Ep. 015 - How to Reduce Hunger and Appetite (backed by scientific research)

SHOW NOTES

In this episode, I'm diving into five factors that affect your appetite and hunger - all backed by scientific research!  Plus I’m going to offer five easy to use strategies that you can start using to regulate your appetite.

TRANSCRIPT

Today I'm diving into the five factors that affect your appetite and hunger, all backed by scientific research. Plus I'm gonna offer you five easy to use strategies that you can start using today.

Welcome to Man in the Arena, your go-to podcast for all things related to health and weight loss for men over 40. Here we discuss strategies that will get you off the sidelines and into the game so you can achieve your optimal health. It's time to lead a legacy of longevity. Lo and welcome back to another episode of Man in the Arena.

I am so pumped for today's episode because we're talking about a really practical thing when it comes to weight loss, and that is hunger. Now, today we're gonna dive into the science of hunger, and then we're gonna explore different ways that you can reduce your appetite in a healthy and sustainable way.

So with that, I'm gonna discuss the five top factors that impact your satiate in hunger, and then I'm gonna share with you evidence-based strategies that are supported by research. So let's get started. Our first factor affecting hunger and satiate is the macronutrient composition of your meals. So studies have shown that protein plays a crucial role in promoting satiate.

So consuming a diet with adequate protein is gonna help you feel fuller for longer periods of time, and ultimately that's gonna aid your weight management. So one study they did, which I wanna highlight was done by. Wester chirp and planting, and this was done in 2012, and what they found was that individuals on a high protein diet, and this is 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight, so that's considered a higher protein diet.

They experienced increased levels of satiated. They saw reduced hunger, and they actually had a higher energy expenditure compared to those individuals who are on a lower protein diet. So lower protein diet being less than 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So my call to action to you is to reduce your hunger aim at including approximately 30 grams of lean protein in every meal.

What that means is if you are on an intermittent fasting protocol, And you're eating four meals a day, so lunch, snack, dinner, snack, something along those lines. You want to get approximately 30 grams of protein at each one of those meals. That means you're going to consume about 120 grams of protein each day, and that's considered a higher protein diet.

So again, focus on sources of lean protein, chicken, fish, Turkey, beans, you know, some beef every now and again, some pork, every now and again. That's going to help you feel fuller longer. The second factor that impacts satiating is food volume and energy density. So consuming low energy dense foods can actually help you feel fuller without consuming a large number of calories.

So I'm gonna highlight this by a study done by rolls at all back in 2004. So it was done quite a while ago, but what they found was that participants who consumed a low energy dense salad, Before each meal reduced their overall daily caloric intake by 12% compared to those who get it. The increased volume of the salad actually helps you feel fuller, and this leads to reduced calorie consumption.

So here's your call to action. Incorporate more fruits, more vegetables, and whole grains into your meals. So in this study, they actually had them eat a salad before each meal. And so that's something you can do as a call to action is before you sit down and eat your meal. Have a small salad, have a salad packed with veggies, with fibrous green vegetables, leafy green vegetables.

And what this is gonna do is these foods are high in volume and they're low in energy density, so they don't have a lot of calories in them, but they got a lot of nutrients. And again, this is gonna help you feel satisfied without overeating. Fiber content is the third factor affecting hunger and satiating.

So foods high in dietary fiber, such as whole grains, legumes, vegetables. When you eat these foods, they slow down your digestion and they actually increase the bulk in your stomach, and this contributes to a longer lasting feeling of fullness. So a systematic review by Clark and Slavin back in 2014, they analyzed 44 studies and found that consuming an additional 14 grams of fiber per day resulted an actual 10% decrease in energy intake and an average weight loss of about 3.8 pounds.

So what my call to action to you with respect to this factor is to aim for a fiber rich diet. By consuming whole grains, legumes, vegetables, fruits. So very similar to the second call to action. When we eat these low energy dense foods, we actually are consuming foods that are high in fiber, and this is gonna help us feel full and it's actually gonna promote better digestion.

So we're getting more bang for our buck here. So just to kind of recap here, the first three factors, right? Macronutrient composition. We want to eat foods that are high in protein, food volume, and energy density. So we want to eat low energy dense foods, right? We wanna avoid the high calorie foods and then make sure we're getting foods that are high in fiber.

Okay? And just by virtue, when you do this, you're eating foods that are closer to source. They're not processed, they don't have a lot of additives. They don't have added sugar and flour. So these foods make you feel full, and they do not have a lot of calories in them. So there's a lot of benefit here.

Hormonal regulation is the fourth factor that influences your hunger and satiate, and I've talked about this on previous episodes, but hormones like leptin, ghrelin, insulin peptide yy, they all play essential roles in regulating your appetite. Well, then what impacts those hormones, Craig? Well, factors such as sleep, stress, and of course the dietary composition of the foods you eat, those are all going to impact your hormone levels.

So in 2004, studied by Tari at all, they found the individuals who slept less than five hours per night had a 15 point a 5% lower leptin levels. So leptin is the hormone that suppresses our appetite. So they actually saw lower. Leptin levels, they actually saw a reduction in the hormone that suppresses our appetite.

And on the flip side of that, they saw 15% higher levels of ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates her appetite compared to those individuals who slept eight hours per night. So look at that. Look at that sort of relationship. You get less than five hours of sleep a night, man, you're setting yourself up for way higher levels of hunger the next day.

Okay. To illustrate this even further, there was another study by Spiegel at all in 2004, and they showed that sleep restriction in men who slept less than six hours per night, that led to a 24% increase in hunger and appetite ratings. So it's not rocket science. We know that when we don't get enough sleep, we see a dysregulation of our hormones and we see an increase in hunger, and we see an increase in appetite.

We wanna make sure we get adequate sleep in order to regulate our hormones. So that is my call to action to you for this factor. This fourth factor, prioritize good sleep hygiene. Aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night, upwards of nine hours of sleep per night, and then create a relaxing bedtime routine.

Try to get to bed at the same time each night and get up each morning at the same time. Your body likes that circadian rhythm. And then another thing you can do obviously, is avoid alcohol before sleep and try to limit your stimulants caffeine primarily by, I'd say midday, 12 o'clock each day. The fifth and final factor I wanna discuss today is the psychological environmental factors that impact your hunger and satiating.

So, emotional eating, portion sizes, food variety. Plate size, background, music, social influences. These all have a tremendous impact on our appetite. And so a study by Vince Tri All in 2013 found that individuals with a higher mindfulness score were less likely to engage in emotional eating, especially when experiencing negative emotions.

So this study suggests that mindfulness plays a key role in preventing emotional eating and then supporting healthier eating patterns. And then lastly, there was another study by Mason at all in 2016, and they focused on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on mindfulness eating, which then led to less consumption of sweets and sugar and lower fast and glucose levels in obese adults.

So we know that when you take a mindfulness approach to eating, you're going to see healthier eating habits, and of course you're gonna see weight loss. So here's my call to action to you. Practice mindfulness, eating during your meals and how you do this. You slow down. You are present with what you're eating.

You savour each bite. And then most importantly, I've talked about using the hunger Scale. Rely on your body's natural hunger cues and fullness cues to decide how much food you're eating and what you need to eat. Rather than eating everything that's on your plate. Make sure that you're listening to what your body needs.

That means slowing things down. This is going to prevent overeating and it's gonna allow you to make healthier choices. So there you have it. These are the top five factors affecting your hunger and satiating, all backed by scientific research. So by understanding these factors and implementing strategies to manage them, you can make healthier food choices and get even better control of your appetite.

I hope you found this episode informative and engaging, and if you enjoyed it, please subscribe and share it with your friends and colleagues. As always, stay tuned for more evidence-based insights in next week's episodes and upcoming episodes. Thank you so much for listening. I look forward to next week, and in the meantime, keep leading a legacy of good health and longevity.

If you're ready to step inside the arena and change the trajectory of your health, head on over to the spear method.com and download by free guide to learn simple and effective strategies on how to optimize your health today.