12 Foods That Control Your Appetite

Quiet your cravings with these satisfying foods.

ByABC News
June 18, 2014, 1:23 PM
Quiet your cravings with these satisfying foods.
Quiet your cravings with these satisfying foods.
Katarina Lofgren/Getty Images

June 18, 2014— -- intro: When you're trying to lose weight, cutting back on the amount you eat is a given—but feeling hungry all the time is one of the major reasons why most diets fail within a week.

Still, you can silence your grumbling stomach without consuming extra calories. In fact, eating certain foods sends a signal to your brain that you're done eating, and quiets your appetite.

Shut out the ice cream pint that's calling your name by eating these healthy and satisfying foods.

quicklist: 1category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Applesurl:text: Chomp on an apple approximately a half hour before a meal—the fiber and water from the apple will fill you up, so you'll eat less, says Debra Wein, RD, president of Wellness Workdays, a leading provider of worksite wellness programs.

quicklist: 2category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Avocadourl:text: Eating half of an avocado with your lunch may help you feel full for the rest of the afternoon, according to a study published in Nutrition Journal. Women who did that felt 22% more satisfied and had a 24% lower desire to snack three hours later than on days they ate a calorically equivalent lunch without the avocado.

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quicklist: 3category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Beans, chickpeas, lentilsurl:text: Dietary pulses such as chickpeas, lentils, beans, and peas are protein-rich superfoods that also pack in fiber, antioxidants, B vitamins, and iron. Eating more of them may also help you control your appetite. A recent meta-analysis published in the journal Obesity found that people were 31% more satisfied after a meal when it included pulses.

quicklist: 4category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Soupurl:text: In a Penn State study, people who slurped a bowl of low-calorie, broth-based soup before their lunch entrées reduced their total calorie intake at the meal by 20%. "Soups can take the edge of your appetite since they take up a lot of volume in your stomach, but with very few calories," says Beth Saltz, RD, owner of nutritionskitchen.com.

quicklist: 5category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Picklesurl:text: Pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and other fermented foods have short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and recent research in the Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences found that they help strengthen the bond between the gut and the brain. SCFAs stimulate production of hormones that cross the blood-brain barrier and improve appetite signaling. Fermented foods also boast probiotics, the healthy bacteria that help digestion. Some experts believe probiotics may reduce appetite and aid weight loss, though research is inconclusive.

quicklist: 6category: Foods That Control Your Appetitetitle: Chili powderurl:text: You may already know that capsaicin, the compound in chilis that gives them their kick, fires up your metabolism. Recent research from Maastricht University in the Netherlands shows that adding heat to your meal may also control your appetite. The study, which was published in the journal Appetite, found that adding 1/4 tsp of chili pepper to each meal increased satiety and fullness. What's more, some participants were only allowed to consume 75% of their recommended daily calorie intake, but didn't feel any more desire to continue eating after dinner than those who were given 100% of their daily calories.

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