Is having that delicious steak going to fill you up any better than if you ate beans or peas?
They both have a significant amount of protein. However, it just seems like meat is more filling.
But is it really?
Researchers recently published the results of a study that looked at 43 healthy, normal-weight, young men. First, they gave them all a pork/veal dinner consisting of 19% protein, 53% carbohydrate, and six grams of fiber. They scored their appetites every half an hour for the next three hours. Then they gave them a second meal and let them eat as much as they wanted.
Then, the next day, they repeated the same experiment, only this time there was no meat in the first meal. They replaced the meat protein with beans and peas. But the total amount of proteins and carbohydrates remained the same. The only difference in the composition of the meals was that the bean and pea meals had 25 grams of fiber compared to the 6 grams in the steak dinner. Here’s what they discovered.
The men felt fuller and reported decreased appetites and less hunger after eating the bean and pea meal than they did after the meat meal. And because of the decrease in appetite, they ate less in the second meal. Who would have guessed?
In the words of the authors, “Vegetable-based meals (beans/peas) influenced appetite sensations favorably compared to animal-based meals (pork/veal) with similar energy and protein content, but lower fiber content.” They went on to say, “Interestingly, a vegetable-based meal with low protein content was as satiating and palatable as an animal-based meal with high protein content.”
The only problem with the bean and pea meal is that the amino acid content in beans and peas is not nearly as good for you as the amino acid content of meats. On the other hand, fiber is a very good appetite suppressor. So, if you would rather stay with meat and yet still want the appetite-suppressing effect of fiber, you can take 6 teaspoons of oat bran with your meal. That contains 20 grams of excellent fiber.
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD
REF: Kristensen, M.D., N.T. Bendsen, et al. “Meals based on vegetable protein sources (beans and peas) are more satiating than meals based on animal protein sources (veal and pork)- a randomized cross-over meal test study.” Food & Nutrition Research, October, 2016, 60: 32634. http://www.foodandnutritionresearch.net/index.php/fnr/article/view/32634#Abstract