The most filling food for dieters

If you're on a diet or you've ever been on one, you know full well that hunger is the enemy. This force tempts you away from the healthy foods you know you should be eating, and into the charms of a chocolate cake. Hunger, you rascal!

The catch point of dieting is precisely this: though eating less will lead to weight loss, the longer you ignore the hunger signals of your body, the longer it will take for hunger to subside when you do start eating - which easily leads to overeating and sabotage of your weight loss goals.

The trick is to pick your foods carefully, choosing foods that provide the greatest feeling of satisfaction for the calorie content. Now, research is revealing which foods do this best.

Among studies surrounding this subject, one from the University of Sydney "The Satiety Index of Common Foods" is probably the largest and most detailed study available. In this study, researchers gave their human test subjects 38 different foods, each in 220 calorie portions, and then recorded the subjects' perceived hunger levels after eating them. Three aspects were found to most positively correlate to feelings of fullness - protein, dietary fiber and the strongest correlation, weight.

Here are some of the most satisfying foods per calorie and their daily value of nutrients per serving:

• Bean Sprouts - Fullness Factor 4.6

o Vitamin K (43%)

o Vitamin C (23%)

o Folate (16%)

o Manganese (10%)

• Watermelon - Fullness Factor 4.5

o Vitamin C (21%)

o Vitamin A (18%)

o Vitamin C (120%)

o Vitamin A (53%)

o Fiber (15%)

• Carrots - Fullness Factor 3.8

o Vitamin A (428%)

o Vitamin K (21%)

o Fiber (14%)

o Vitamin C (13%)

o Potassium (12%)

• Oranges - Fullness Factor 3.5

o Vitamin C (160%)

o Fiber (17%)

o Folate (14%)

o Thiamin (10%)

• Fish, Broiled - Fullness Factor 3.4

o Selenium (101%)

o Vitamin B12 (93%)

o Protein (75%)

o Phosphorus (43%)

o Magnesium (32%)

o Niacin (30%)

o Riboflavin (20%)

o Potassium (20%)

o Calcium (12%)

• Chicken Breast, Roasted - Fullness Factor 3.3

o Protein (76%)

o Niacin (73%)

o Selenium (52%)

o Vitamin B6 (38%)

o Phosphorus (30%)

o Pantothenic Acid (13%)

• Apples - Fullness Factor 3.3

o Fiber (12%)

o Vitamin C (10%)

• Sirloin Steak, Broiled - Fullness Factor 3.2

o Protein (231%)

o Selenium (208%)

o Niacin (169%)

o Zinc (142%)

o Vitamin B6 (128%)

o Phosphorus (95%)

o Vitamin B12 (92%)

o Potassium (44%)

o Iron (40%)

o Riboflavin (36%)

o Magnesium (25%)

o Pantothenic Acid (23%)

o Thiamin (22%)

o Copper (16%)

• Oatmeal -Fullness Factor 3.0

o Manganese (7%)

• Popcorn  - Fullness Factor 2.9

o Fiber (5%)

We recommend air-popped over microwaved.

• Baked Potato - Fullness Factor 2.5

o Vitamin C (48%)

o Vitamin B6 (46%)

o Potassium (46%)

o Manganese (33%)

o Fiber (26%)

o Niacin (21%)

o Folate (21%)

o Magnesium (21%)

o Phosphorus (21%)

o Copper (18%)

o Iron (18%)

o Protein (15%)

o Thiamin (13%)

o Pantothenic Acid (11%)

• Banana - Fullness Factor 2.5

o Vitamin B6 (41%)

o Vitamin C (33%)

o Manganese (30%)

o Potassium (23%)

o Dietary Fiber (23%)

o Magnesium (15%)

o Folate (11%)

o Riboflavin (10%)

Sources:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/