Eat All You Want (But Wisely)

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Some Surprising Truths About Hunger And Satiety

This is Dr. Barbara Rolls. She’s Professor and Guthrie Chair in Nutritional Sciences, and Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior at Pennsylvania State University, after graduating herself from Oxford and Cambridge (yes, both). Her “awards and honors” take up four A4 pages, so we won’t list them all here.

Most importantly, she’s an expert on hunger, satiety, and eating behavior in general.

What does she want us to know?

First and foremost: you cannot starve yourself thin, unless you literally starve yourself to death.

What this is about: any weight lost due to malnutrition (“not eating enough” is malnutrition) will always go back on once food becomes available. So unless you die first (not a great health plan), merely restricting good will always result in “yo-yo dieting”.

So, to avoid putting the weight back on and feeling miserable every day along the way… You need to eat as much as you feel you need.

But, there’s a trick here (it’s about making you genuinely feel you need less)!

Your body is an instrument—so play it

Your body is the tool you use to accomplish pretty much anything you do. It is, in large part, at your command. Then there are other parts you can’t control directly.

Dr. Rolls advises taking advantage of the fact that much of your body is a mindless machine that will simply follow instructions given.

That includes instructions like “feel hungry” or “feel full”. But how to choose those?

Volume matters

An important part of our satiety signalling is based on a physical sensation of fullness. This, by the way, is why bariatric surgery (making a stomach a small fraction of the size it was before) works. It’s not that people can’t eat more (the stomach is stretchy and can also be filled repeatedly), it’s that they don’t want to eat more because the pressure sensors around the stomach feel full, and signal the hormone leptin to tell the brain we’re full now.

Now consider:

  • On the one hand, 20 grapes, fresh and bursting with flavor
  • On the other hand, 20 raisins (so, dried grapes), containing the same calories

Which do you think will get the leptin flowing sooner? Of course, the fresh grapes, because of the volume.

So if you’ve ever seen those photos that show two foods side by side with the same number of calories but one is much larger (say, a small slice of pizza or a big salad), it’s not quite the cheap trick that it might have appeared.

Or rather… It is a cheap trick; it’s just a cheap trick that works because your stomach is quite a simple organ.

So, Dr. Rolls’ advice: generally speaking, go for voluminous food. Fruit is great from this, because there’s so much water. Air-popped popcorn also works great. Vegetables, too.

Water matters, but differently than you might think

A well-known trick is to drink water before and with a meal. That’s good, it’s good to be hydrated. However, it can be better. Dr. Rolls did an experiment:

The design:

❝Subjects received 1 of 3 isoenergetic (1128 kJ) preloads 17 min before lunch on 3 d and no preload on 1 d.

The preloads consisted of 1) chicken rice casserole, 2) chicken rice casserole served with a glass of water (356 g), and 3) chicken rice soup.

The soup contained the same ingredients (type and amount) as the casserole that was served with water.❞

The results:

❝Decreasing the energy density of and increasing the volume of the preload by adding water to it significantly increased fullness and reduced hunger and subsequent energy intake at lunch.

The equivalent amount of water served as a beverage with a food did not affect satiety.❞

The conclusion:

❝Consuming foods with a high water content more effectively reduced subsequent energy intake than did drinking water with food.❞

You can read the study in full (it’s a worthwhile read!) here:

Water incorporated into a food but not served with a food decreases energy intake in lean women

Protein matters

With all those fruits and vegetables and water, you may be wondering Dr. Rolls’ stance on proteins. It’s simple: protein is an appetite suppressant.

However, it takes about 20 minutes to signal the brain about that, so having some protein in a starter (if like this writer, you’re the cook of the household, a great option is to enjoy a small portion of nuts while cooking!) gets that clock ticking, to signal satiety sooner.

It may also help in other ways:

Clinical Evidence and Mechanisms of High-Protein Diet-Induced Weight Loss

As for other foods that can suppress appetite, by the way, you might like;

25 Foods That Act As Natural Appetite Suppressants

Variety matters, and in ways other than you might think

A wide variety of foods (especially: a wide variety of plants) in one’s diet is well recognized as a key to a good balanced diet.

However…

A wide variety of dishes at the table, meanwhile, promotes greater consumption of food.

Dr. Rolls did a study on this too, a while ago now (you’ll see how old it is) but the science seems robust:

Variety in a Meal Enhances Food Intake in Man

Notwithstanding the title, it wasnot about a man (that was just how scientists wrote in ye ancient times of 1981). The test subjects were, in order: rats, cats, a mixed group of men and women, the same group again, and then a different group of all women.

So, Dr. Rolls’ advice is: it’s better to have one 20-ingredient dish, than 10 dishes with 20 ingredients between them.

Sorry! We love tapas and buffets too, but that’s the science!

So, “one-pot” meals are king in this regard; even if you serve it with one side (reasonable), that’s still only two dishes, which is pretty good going.

Note that the most delicious many-ingredient stir-fries and similar dishes from around the world also fall into this category!

Want to know more?

If you have the time (it’s an hour), you can enjoy a class of hers for free:

!

Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later

Enjoy!

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  • Cheeky diet soft drink getting you through the work day? Here’s what that may mean for your health

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Many people are drinking less sugary soft drink than in the past. This is a great win for public health, given the recognised risks of diets high in sugar-sweetened drinks.

    But over time, intake of diet soft drinks has grown. In fact, it’s so high that these products are now regularly detected in wastewater.

    So what does the research say about how your health is affected in the long term if you drink them often?

    Breakingpic/Pexels

    What makes diet soft drinks sweet?

    The World Health Organization (WHO) advises people “reduce their daily intake of free sugars to less than 10% of their total energy intake. A further reduction to below 5% or roughly 25 grams (six teaspoons) per day would provide additional health benefits.”

    But most regular soft drinks contain a lot of sugar. A regular 335 millilitre can of original Coca-Cola contains at least seven teaspoons of added sugar.

    Diet soft drinks are designed to taste similar to regular soft drinks but without the sugar. Instead of sugar, diet soft drinks contain artificial or natural sweeteners. The artificial sweeteners include aspartame, saccharin and sucralose. The natural sweeteners include stevia and monk fruit extract, which come from plant sources.

    Many artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than sugar so less is needed to provide the same burst of sweetness.

    Diet soft drinks are marketed as healthier alternatives to regular soft drinks, particularly for people who want to reduce their sugar intake or manage their weight.

    But while surveys of Australian adults and adolescents show most people understand the benefits of reducing their sugar intake, they often aren’t as aware about how diet drinks may affect health more broadly.

    A dark bubbly liquid is poured into a cup filled with ice.
    Diet soft drinks contain artificial or natural sweeteners. Vintage Tone/Shutterstock

    What does the research say about aspartame?

    The artificial sweeteners in soft drinks are considered safe for consumption by food authorities, including in the US and Australia. However, some researchers have raised concern about the long-term risks of consumption.

    People who drink diet soft drinks regularly and often are more likely to develop certain metabolic conditions (such as diabetes and heart disease) than those who don’t drink diet soft drinks.

    The link was found even after accounting for other dietary and lifestyle factors (such as physical activity).

    In 2023, the WHO announced reports had found aspartame – the main sweetener used in diet soft drinks – was “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (carcinogenic means cancer-causing).

    Importantly though, the report noted there is not enough current scientific evidence to be truly confident aspartame may increase the risk of cancer and emphasised it’s safe to consume occasionally.

    Will diet soft drinks help manage weight?

    Despite the word “diet” in the name, diet soft drinks are not strongly linked with weight management.

    In 2022, the WHO conducted a systematic review (where researchers look at all available evidence on a topic) on whether the use of artificial sweeteners is beneficial for weight management.

    Overall, the randomised controlled trials they looked at suggested slightly more weight loss in people who used artificial sweeteners.

    But the observational studies (where no intervention occurs and participants are monitored over time) found people who consume high amounts of artificial sweeteners tended to have an increased risk of higher body mass index and a 76% increased likelihood of having obesity.

    In other words, artificial sweeteners may not directly help manage weight over the long term. This resulted in the WHO advising artificial sweeteners should not be used to manage weight.

    Studies in animals have suggested consuming high levels of artificial sweeteners can signal to the brain it is being starved of fuel, which can lead to more eating. However, the evidence for this happening in humans is still unproven.

    You can’t go wrong with water. hurricanehank/Shutterstock

    What about inflammation and dental issues?

    There is some early evidence artificial sweeteners may irritate the lining of the digestive system, causing inflammation and increasing the likelihood of diarrhoea, constipation, bloating and other symptoms often associated with irritable bowel syndrome. However, this study noted more research is needed.

    High amounts of diet soft drinks have also been linked with liver disease, which is based on inflammation.

    The consumption of diet soft drinks is also associated with dental erosion.

    Many soft drinks contain phosphoric and citric acid, which can damage your tooth enamel and contribute to dental erosion.

    Moderation is key

    As with many aspects of nutrition, moderation is key with diet soft drinks.

    Drinking diet soft drinks occasionally is unlikely to harm your health, but frequent or excessive intake may increase health risks in the longer term.

    Plain water, infused water, sparkling water, herbal teas or milks remain the best options for hydration.

    Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland and Emily Burch, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Lecturer, Southern Cross University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Walden Farms Caesar Dressing vs. Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing Walden Farms Caesar Dressing to Primal Kitchen Caesar Dressing, we picked the Primal Kitchen.

    Why?

    As you can see from the front label, the Walden Farms product has 0 net carbs, 0 calories, and 0 fat. In fact, its ingredients list begins:

    Water, white distilled vinegar, erythritol, corn fiber, salt, microcrystalline cellulose, xanthan gum, titanium dioxide (color)

    …before it gets to something interesting (garlic purée), by which point the amount must be miniscule.

    The Primal Kitchen product, meanwhile, has 140 calories per serving and 15g fat (of which, 1.5g is saturated). However! The ingredients list this time begins:

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    …before it too gets to garlic, which this time, by the way, is organic roasted garlic.

    In case you’re wondering about the salt content in both, they add up to 190mg for the Walden Farms product, and 240mg for the Primal Kitchen product. We don’t think that the extra 50mg (out of a daily allowance of 2300–5000mg, depending on whom you ask) is worthy of note.

    In short, the Walden Farms product is made of mostly additives of various kinds, whereas the Primal Kitchen product is made of mostly healthful ingredients.

    So, the calories and fat are nothing to fear.

    For this reason, we chose the product with more healthful ingredients—but we acknowledge that if you are specifically trying to keep your calories down, then the Walden Farms product may be a valid choice.

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  • Seven Things To Do For Good Lung Health!

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    YouTube Channel Wellness Check is challenging us all to do the following things. They’re framing it as a 30-day challenge, but honestly, there’s nothing here that isn’t worth doing for life

    Here’s the list:

    • Stop smoking (of course, smoking is bad for everything, but the lungs are one of its main areas of destruction)
    • Good posture (a scrunched up chest is not the lungs’ best operating conditions!)
    • Regular exercise (exercising your body in different ways exercises your lungs in different ways!)
    • Monitor air quality (some environments are much better/worse than others, but don’t underestimate household air quality threats either)
    • Avoid respiratory infections (shockingly, COVID is not great for your lungs, nor are the various other respiratory infections available)
    • Check your O2 saturation levels (pulse oximeters like this one are very cheap to buy and easy to use)
    • Prevent mucus and phlegm from accumulating (these things are there for reasons; the top reason is trapping pathogens, allergens, and general pollutants/dust etc; once those things are trapped, we don’t want that mucus there any more!)

    Check out the video itself for more detail on each of these items:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to know more?

    You might like our article about COPD:

    Why Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Is More Likely Than You Think

    Take care!

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    After a brief introduction of what cancer actually is and what causes it, the layout of the rest of the book is in chronological order of patient experience, that is to say, what to expect during the journey from screening and diagnosis, to one’s first oncology visit (the author being an oncologist himself), how cancer staging works, getting second opinions, and a chapter-by-chapter review of many different treatment options, ranging from surgery and chemotherapy, to radiation and hormonal therapies, and even more modern targeted therapies, immunotherapy, cellular therapies, and yes, complementary and alternative therapies, amongst others we haven’t listed for the sake of brevity.

    He doesn’t leave it there though; he also talks managing side effects, monitoring for recurrence, and even caring for the caregiver(s), along with eventual survivorship and that emotional journey, or if it comes down to it, palliative and hospice care.

    Finishing on a hopeful note, he also brings attention to novel approaches that are being trialled presently, and the prospects for the near future of cancer care.

    The style is very human and readable, notwithstanding that the author has hundreds of peer-reviewed publications to his name, the content here is presented in a much more approachable, less clinical way, while still conveying all the information that needs to be conveyed.

    Bottom line: if you or a loved one is facing cancer, this book will be an invaluable resource.

    Click here to check out The Cancer Journey, and understand each part of it!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Goat Milk Greek Yogurt vs Almond Milk Greek Yogurt – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing goat milk yogurt to almond milk yogurt, we picked the almond milk yogurt.

    Why?

    Surprised? Honestly, we were too!

    Much as we love almonds, we were fully expecting to write about how they’re very close in nutritional value, but the dairy yogurt has more probiotics, but no, as it turns out when we looked into them, they’re quite comparable in that regard.

    It’s easy to assume “goat milk yogurt is more natural and therefore healthier”, but in both cases, it was a case of taking a fermentable milk, and fermenting it (an ancient process). “But almond milk is a newfangled thing”, well, new-ish…

    So what was the deciding factor?

    In this case, the almond milk yogurt has about twice the protein per (same size) serving, compared to the goat milk; all the other macros are about the same, and the micronutrients are similar. Like many plant-based milks and yogurts, this one is fortified with calcium and vitamin D, so that wasn’t an issue either.

    In short: the only meaningful difference was the protein, and the almond came out on top.

    However!

    The almond came out on top only because it is strained; this can be done (or not) with any kind of yogurt, be it from an animal or a plant. 

    In other words: if it had been different brands, the goat milk yogurt could have come out on top!

    The take-away idea here is: always read labels, because as you’ve just seen, even we can get surprised sometimes!

    seriously if you only remember one thing from this today, make it the above

    Other thing worth mentioning: yogurts, and dairy products in general, are often made with common allergens (e.g. dairy, nuts, soy, etc). So if you are allergic or intolerant, obviously don’t choose the one to which you are allergic or intolerant.

    That said… If you are lactose-intolerant, but not allergic, goat’s milk does have less lactose than cow’s milk. But of course, you know your limits better than we can in this regard.

    Want to try some?

    Amazon is not coming up with the goods for this one (or anything even similar, at time of writing), so we recommend trying your local supermarket (and reading labels, because products vary widely!)

    What you’re looking for (be it animal- or plant-based):

    • Live culture probiotic bacteria
    • No added sugar
    • Minimal additives in general
    • Lastly, check out the amounts for protein, calcium, vitamin D, etc.

    Enjoy!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Language Fluency Beats General Intelligence & Memory For Longevity

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    And no, it doesn’t have to be a second language, although that helps a lot:

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    Rather, what we’re talking about today is your first language fluency. So, for most of our readers, English. For the study participants it was German, because this was a German research team using data from the German population.

    The Berlin Aging Study

    Previous research has linked intelligence to longevity, but intelligence comprises multiple traits. So, what’s most important? Memory? General intelligence? Nope. Language fluency!

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    The study used data from the Berlin Aging Study, which tracked 516 people aged 70–105 from 1989 onwards.

    Researchers assessed four cognitive abilities, with two kinds of tests for each of:

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    General intelligence, meanwhile, was assessed as “the average of those 8 scores”.

    The two tests for the cognitive ability of “verbal fluency” were:

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    Word beginnings

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    You can read about these and the other tests for the other cognitive abilities, in the paper itself:

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    They found that of all these metrics, only the two verbal fluency tests (and none of the other tests) showed a significant link to longevity.

    Why this is important

    Although the study does not prove causality (it could be that people who are predisposed to live longer for other reasons are more verbally fluent because of some common factor that influences both language fluency and longevity), it seems as good a reason as any to develop and maintain language fluency.

    This builds on what was found in “The Nun Study“, that followed a convent of nuns (because they are a very homogenous sample in terms of occupation, location, diet, routine, etc, so a lot of confounding factors were already controlled-for) and made numerous major discoveries about things that impact aging (including the relevance of the APOE4 gene! That was The Nun Study).

    When it came to nuns and language…

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    • Longer sentences
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    That latter item means the relative linguistic density of ideas and complexity thereof, and the fluency and vivacity with which they were expressed (this was not a wishy-washy assessment; there was a hard-science analysis to determine numbers).

    Want to spruce up yours? You might like to check out:

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    …for specific, evidence-based ways to tweak your reading to fight cognitive decline.

    Take care!

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