Are you prone to the mid-morning "I'm starving" feeling too?
You know the one, where you realize that you had breakfast only a couple of hours ago, and lunch is still
hours away, but you are actually so ravenous you can't possibly wait. This is the moment where so many of us have our first nutritional fall from grace of the day, and will reach for pretty much
anything to take the edge of those hunger pangs.
The thing is, according to science, these munchies could have been
easily avoided if you had just had the right thing for breakfast.
What is the right thing to have for breakfast, you say? Well, according to a
recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a thick beverage, regardless of calorie count, is the best way to stay fuller longer. The emphasis being on 'thick'.
Researchers in the study had volunteers drink four different smoothies: one thick with a high calorie count, one watery with a high calorie count, one thick with a low calorie count, and one watery with a high calorie count. The drinks were all the same size and had the same nutritional makeup.
After consumption, the researchers scanned the participants' stomachs in an MRI machine and asked them questions about their feelings of fullness. And as it turns out, thickness, not calorie count, more directly influenced feelings of fullness across the board—a phenomenon the researchers dubbed "phantom fullness."
What this simply means, is that calories alone won't satisfy your hunger—you need to opt for the thicker smoothie if you want to feel full until it is time for your next meal.
(Feature image via The Minimalist Baker)
