Appetite Suppressing Foods

One of the hardest challenges in reaching a healthy weight and pursuing a healthful lifestyle is avoiding the munchies and the urge to overeat.

Hunger isn’t the only reason that we eat, and often times those other reasons are far more potent than even hunger. Depression, boredom, fatigue, and even thirst are among the top, and when you add sadness and failure in to the mix, you have an almost irresistible urge to snack.

However, the trick to dealing with these urges is to increase the appetite suppressing foods that you consume. These foods not only give you valuable nutrients but they also help to suppress your hunger mechanisms.

Here’s some appetite suppressing foods bound to keep you fuller longer.

Green Leafy Vegetables

Salad probably isn’t your first choice when it comes time for a snack. However, there’s really nothing like it for appetite suppression. Romaine, iceberg, spinach, and even cabbage all have powerful antioxidants, nutrient rich structures, and fibrous material that fills your stomach up without causing cramping or bloating. Mike Adams recommends green leafy vegetables as your first line of defense, second only to water in terms of keeping the munchies at bay.

The trick though is to not fill the salad with useless calories from salad dressings. Ranch, blue cheese, and others can add literally hundreds of calories to your meal, which counteracts the healthful benefits that you just achieved with the salad. Look instead for flavorful vinaigrettes that have less than 30 calories per serving. You can also steam them or stir fry them in olive oil with garlic or onions for additional flavorful options.

Tomato and Vegetable Juice

V8 is one of the more popular vegetable drinks on the market, but it isn’t the only one. While it is high in water, it has more than just water because of all the raw vegetable pulp. Tomato juice forms the most common base, and it is full of vitamin C as well as other important nutrients. However, you can also find drinks that are spinach or even pumpkin based.

These drinks have the advantage of nourishing your body like a thick broth, and they are a terrific option for vegetarians and omnivores alike. Just make sure that it is pure vegetables without any sugar added. If you are concerned about sodium, remember that you can always pour half a cup of juice and mix in half a cup of water. For best flavoring, make sure that you chill and shake well. You can either drink it with your meal or drink eight ounces before the meal starts for maximum benefits.

Green Tea

While not precisely a food, green tea has been getting a lot of press lately on how good it is for appetite suppression and metabolic stimulation. In the book, Green Tea, Nadine Taylor outlines the many different benefits of green tea. When you drink green tea, it fires up the metabolism while at the same time helping the body to release hormones that fool the body into thinking that it is full. To achieve these benefits, however, you need to drink approximately twelve to sixteen ounces of tea a day. This can be consumed at any point, though it does have some caffeine which means you might want to enjoy it earlier rather than later. Just be sure that you don’t add in any extra additives or sugar as that will reduce the benefits.

Pine Nuts

Nuts are high in good fat, but you still need to limit the amount you consume. They easily wrack up the calories, and there are other foods that you should use for optimal calorie intake. However, pine nuts are an option which you should consider indulging in when you need a quick snack or something to push your appetite down.

Pine nuts have the highest concentration of protein than any seed or nut, making them a great choice for fullness. This comes because they have pinolenic acid, a polyunsaturated fat which occurs naturally and activates appetite suppression hormones. These then signal to the brain that you are full and don’t want any more to eat. Just remember though that it doesn’t take many for you to receive the health benefits. A small handful are generally all that you need, and they should be savored rather than gulped.

Protien

In the form of grass-fed beef, wild salmon, lamb, free-range chicken, and others, meats are delicious ways to obtain protein, a nutritional powerhouse. Protein is a nutrient that helps signal your brain that you’re full, and keeps you satiated for a longer period of time. Furthermore, protein takes longer to digest, and helps keep you feeling fuller longer. If you want to aid in your feeling of fullness, make sure to add some healthy protein to your diet.

These foods will help to suppress your appetite while also slimming your waistline. They are among just a few of the great foods that you can add to your menu to carve the fat right off. Want to know more foods to suppress your appetite as well as crucial ones to avoid? Check out this video.

When you’re really craving food and struggling, it can feel as if you have no recourse. The reality is that there’s plenty of foods to suppress our appetite for a longer period. All it takes is a little education and application for a new you.