I've gotten some good feedback from this ongoing "Nutrition Hacks" series, and thought I'd continue with another one in today's post. For this hack, I'd like to discuss ways in which you can manipulate your nutrition by ingesting foods that make you feel fulller quicker / longer and curb your appetite so that you do not feel the urge to overeat.
What you eat is important to your bodily aesthetic (surprise!), and most of us looking to alter our aesthetics are in tune with this. While bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts alike are all still pretty much on the same page as to what kind of foods they need to eat to stimulate and / or alter their bodies, a lot of them fall short on figuring out ways to make the grind and mental struggle a little easier to deal with on a day to day basis.
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| Source: withamymac.com |
This is why I suggest to those of you looking to alter your bodies, but find it hard to eat strictly and cleanly most of the time due to your love of food and propensity for snacking, to incoprorate more high fiber foods into your diet and to constantly drink water.
Source: algaeindustrymagazine.com
The reason for this is that high fiber foods (beans, vegetables, nuts, etc) and water make you feel full very quickly, and suppress your appetite and increase satiety. Water and high fiber vegetables are also very low on calories and thus can be incorporated in every meal in very generous amounts without obliterating your dietary macros.
In searching for systematic reviews to back up the claim that fiber, water, and fats do in fact make you feel fuller, I was actually unable to find any significant studies that support this claim. However, it's always good to take nutritional research with a grain of salt, as monitoring peoples' diets and making all things equal in said diets is an extremely difficult undertaking. So if you're disappointed by my lack of scientific backing or evidence, and think I'm being way too anecdotal, please forgive me. There might be a lot of personal experience and bro-science involved with the claims and suggestions you are about to read.
FIBER
I think that many of us will agree that foods high in fiber make us feel really full. If you're not sure about this, try eating through a can of beans right now and tell me how successful you are without hitting a food wall at full speed.
Fiber can be broken up into soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and can help lower blood cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and promotes movement of food through the intestines and regularity.
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| Source: khoemoingay.edu |
Fiber aids in early and prolonged signals of satiation (fullness) due to its unique physical and chemical structures, which can help those trying to lower body fat percentage through a decrease in food intake or those who find it difficult to stay full throughout the day.
Fiber has also been linked to the prevention of such diseases as heart disease, type II diabetes, and colon cancer. Fiber also helps with overall colon health.
I highly recommend adding vegetables to every meal. They are low in calories, and provide a massive amount of fiber. They also provide beneficial vitamins to your diet.
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WATER
As I'm sure you are well aware, water is important to your body. It's really unbelievable how vital water is to producing the right type of environment inside your body, whilst also aiding in many important biological processes. I've briefly gone over water in one of my blog posts, which you can find here.
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| Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com |
If you're bodybuilding, or doing anything fitness oriented, you should always be drinking lots of water and staying hydrated. But water can also be a useful tool in making yourself feel full. I believe that this is simply because of the space that the water fills up within your stomach, and if you're drinking lots of water throughout the day, you can constantly be filling up your stomach and stay fuller longer. Water also has no calories, so you can fill yourself up without harming your diet!
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Other considerations you can take to make yourself feel fuller include incorporating more whole-foods into your diet. Eating more whole-food protein and getting the majority of your calories from solid food will fill up more space in your stomach and take longer to digest than say liquid forms of calories (I believe). It has been argued back and forth that incorporating more fats into your diet also slows down the digestion process of foods and in turn keeps you feeling more satisfied longer (allegedly). Furthermore, consider lowering your carb intake to regulate insulin and blood sugar so that you do not become accustomed to sugar cravings.
Food hacks like this can really help aid in making the experience of dieting and meal planning easier to deal with during the times of the day where you crave foods or are tempted to eat things that will throw you off of your dietary plans. Try using this food hack and see if it helps keep your mind off of food cravings and achieve dietary success!
-Jtrain
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