Clean Eating Foods

by Jari Love

Clean Eating Foods That Keep You Full

A stomach that won’t stop growling won’t just turn you into a hunger-crazed jerk. It’ll also destroy your ability to refuse the unhealthy crap you normally don’t have much problem saying no to.

So instead of subsisting solely on salads and green juices that leave you famished in an hour, add more of these heavy hitters to your diet to help you stay fuller longer. Your friends will like you more, and you’ll feel really good about not devouring an entire box of crackers or cereal. Here are some clean eating foods that will keep you full.

1. Smoothies

Yes, most drinks—including green juices—are less filling than foods. But smoothies are the exception to the rule because they’re packed with air—and the longer you blend them, the fluffier (and more filling) they’ll get. In one Penn State University study, men who drank shakes that were blended for a full 5 minutes ate about 100 calories less at lunch, compared with those whose smoothies were blended for just a minute and a half, even though both smoothies contained the exact same calories and ingredients.

2. Baked potatoes

If you’re doing carbs with your meal, you might want to think about saying yes to spuds. In a study that ranked the satiating properties of 38 common foods—including fruit, steak, beans, and fish—boiled potatoes came out on top. In part, that’s because they’re loaded with fiber—one medium potato packs 5 g of the stuff. Just remember to leave the skins on (that’s where most of the roughage and nutrients are) and to not go crazy with the butter and sour cream. (Instead, try topping it with a dollop of Greek yogurt and salsa.)

3. Apples and pears

Unlike most other fruits, apples and pears contain pectin—a special type of fiber that’s especially good at slowing digestion and helping you feel fuller longer. In fact, one recent Harvard study found that eating an extra serving of apple or pear led to more weight loss than eating an extra serving of any other type of fruit. Try one sliced up with a spoonful of almond butter and see if you aren’t full ’til dinner.

4. Vegetable scrambles

Eggs are loaded with appetite-quashing protein, which might be why people who loaded up on eggs every morning lost more weight, felt less hungry, and were less tempted to chow down on junk, compared with people who ate bagels for breakfast, according to one British study. Throw in a couple of handfuls of fiber-rich vegetables (like artichokes or broccoli), and you’ll be good to go for hours.

5. Flaxseed

Here’s a pro tip: Make almost any meal more satisfying by sprinkling on some ground flaxseed; a measly 2 Tbsp serving packs almost 4 g of fiber. Try stirring them into yogurt, dusting them on top of salad or roasted vegetables, or using them instead of bread crumbs.

6. Oil-popped popcorn

Like smoothies, popcorn is loaded with air, so it literally takes up lots of space in your stomach. The crunchy snack is also a good source of fiber, and you can eat a ton of it for not a lot of calories—4 cups packs 4 g of fiber and around 200 calories. Sure, you could cut the calories even more by doing air-popped popcorn, but everyone knows it’s tasteless and unsatisfying, so don’t bother.

7. Oatmeal

Half a cup of rolled oats packs almost a third of your daily fiber—most of it in the form of soluble fiber, which actually turns into a sort of digestion-slowing gel in your stomach. (Mmm!) Cook ’em with water or milk, and all that extra volume from the liquid makes them even more filling.

h/t prevention.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.