Protein Makes You Feel Fuller

Eating fewer, regular-sized meals with higher amounts of lean protein can make you feel fuller than eating smaller, more frequent meals, according to new research from Purdue University.

"We found that despite the common trend of eating smaller, more frequent meals, eating frequency had relatively no beneficial impact on appetite control. [On the other hand] eating [three] larger meals led to reductions in appetite, and people felt full,” say researchers.

“We want to emphasise though that these three larger meals were restricted in calories and reflected appropriate portion sizes to be effective in weight loss,” said Wayne W. Campbell, Purdue professor of foods and nutrition.

“Our advice for people trying to lose weight is to add a moderate amount of protein at three regular meals a day to help appetite control and the feeling of fullness."

The normal diet is composed of 14% of energy from protein, 60% from carbohydrate and 26% from fat; the higher-protein diet had the same amount of fat but 25% of energy comes from protein and 49% from carbohydrate.