The 20/20 Diet (15 page)

cholesterol.

Ap
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ples

These long-extolled, fiber-filled, delicious fruits have been shown

to boost the feeling of fullness. Especially when compared to their

lesser-celebrated counterparts, apple sauce and apple juice with and

without added fiber, whole apples caused subjects to eat less at their

next meal, as indicated in a study published in the journal
Appetite
.

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Some sayings stand the test of time for a reason, and “an apple

a day keeps the doctor away” is one of those. Apples have a chemi-

cal called quercetin, which has been shown to support cardiovascular

health and immune function.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, are naturall
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y filling due

to the high amounts of both protein and fiber found in them. I came

across one interesting study published in the journal
Appetite
, and it found that subjects reported a greater perceived satiation (again, feeling of fullness), an improvement in perceived bowel function, and

they ate less food in general while consuming chickpeas. One partic-

ular finding piqued my interest—it turns out the study participants

started eating more processed snack foods once they stopped eating

the chickpeas, suggesting that chickpeas might help reduce desire for

high-calorie, low-nutrient junk foods
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. Nutrition experts that I worked

with believe that more research is needed to confirm the effects of

chickpeas, as not all research has been as positive as this study, but this study is very intriguing and so many tasty dishes can be made with

chickpeas. Chickpeas are also high in folate (also commonly known as

folic acid), which helps support the health of your heart.

Dried plums (prunes)

You might have an association with prunes that would make you

nervous about eati
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ng too many of them, but my nutritionist partner,

Cynthia, has kept the portions in the recipes just right, so that shouldn’t scare you off. A study out of Greece looked at how dried plums affected

hunger, and the researchers found that participants who ate snacks that

included prunes felt less hungry and had less desire to eat between the

snack and their next meal. They concluded that this could be thanks to

the h
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igh soluble fiber content found in prunes.

It is true that prunes are high in fiber, and they’ve also been found

to have a normalizing effect on blood sugar by slowing down the

process of food leaving the stomach. Experts also believe that prunes

could support bone health.

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Greens (any kind of leafy greens)

Researchers looked at how eating a salad containing iceberg and

romaine lettuce before a meal affected fullness and food intake.

They found that when study subjects were required to eat a salad

before a pasta meal, they tended to eat fewer calories overall and feel

fuller. Greens are low in calories, but nutrition experts have theo-

rized they have the ability to produce a feeling of fullne
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ss thanks to

their volume.

If you haven’t heard about the health benefits of leafy greens, then

allow me to enlighten you. First of all the choices are vast, so even if you’re saying, “I’ve hated spinach for as long as I can remember,” that’s OK. I am not telling you to go out and eat a bushel of spinach for

dinner. There are many other options that some nutritionists believe

will help you feel full, including collard greens, red leaf spinach and

lettuce, arugula, and kale. They bring different nutrients and antiox-

idants to the table (pardon the pun)
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, but they’re all great choices for

your health and your body. Take a cruise around the produce section

of the grocery store and try out a new leafy green you’ve never had

before.

Lentils

The objective of a study conducted at the University of Toronto

Department of Nutritional Sciences was to compare how several

legumes affect appetite and food intake. They compared chickpeas,

lentils, navy bea
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ns, and yellow peas to pasta and sauce. They found

among other things that a meal with lentils had the strongest impact

on satiety, and lentils were the only legume that reduced cumulative

food intake, a finding that was compelling to me and my team.

Lentils are a great source of protein, believe it or not, and they also

boast a lot of potassium, fiber, iron, B vitamins, magnesium, potas-

siu
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m, and calcium. Yes, they really are that amazing. They’re also great

either hot (I’m sure you’ve heard of lentil soup) or cold (you’ll see them included in salad recipes later in this book). They’re inexpensive nutritional powerhouses.

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Peanut butter (natural)

In a study conducted on obese women, Brazilian researchers found

that peanut butter, when added to a breakfast meal, helped regulate

glucose levels and also increased the production of hormones related

to satiety. In other words, it helped the subjects feel full and reduced their desire to eat after the meal.

Peanut butter, when you get an all-natural version that is
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n’t loaded

down with sugar, is a healthy source of fat to fuel your body. Look for

a peanut butter with no sugar in the ingredients list. It can give you

energy, and according to the American Heart Association, the fats in

peanut butter don’t raise cholesterol.

If you’re allergic to peanuts, don’t worry. I’ll offer you some safe

alternatives in Phase 1.

Pistachios (roasted, unsalted)

A study published in the
Journal of t
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he American Col ege of Nutrition

found that of subjects who took part in a weight loss program, the peo-

ple who ate pistachios as a snack showed a lower body mass index and

lower triglycerides when compared to people who ate pretzels as the

snack. Despite the fact that pistachios have a relatively high fat con-

tent, researchers concluded that pistachios, if portion controlled, may

help control body weight. Another study, from the journal
Appetite
, found that when people had to remove the shells from the pistachios

versus eating already shelled ones, they actually ate 41 percent fewer

without feeling an
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y less satisfied than the other group. So the take-

away message here is to purchase pistachios in their shells so that you

have to put in a little extra effort to eat them. The researchers even

pointed out that the leftover shells are a good visual reminder of how

much you’ve eaten. And this goes along exactly with what I’m saying

about high-response cost foods—you have to work a little to eat them,

but it’
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s so worth it.

Pistachios are packed with nutrients such as potassium, magne-

sium, and vitamin K, as well as some protein and fiber. You’ve proba-

bly heard them referred to as the “skinny nut” because they have the

fewest calories of all nuts. But let me caution you again—eating a

pound of them a day won’t make you skinny.

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Raisins

A study published in the journal
Metabolism
found that eating raisins, especially in combination with walking more throughout the day,

reduces hunger and helps subjects eat less the rest of the day, possibly because of how they alter hormones related to satiety. Interestingly,

they also found that subjects had a decrease in LDL cholesterol as well

as reduced post-meal glucose levels.

Raisins also provide your body with a type of antiox
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idant cal ed

anthocyanins, which scientists believe provide many positive health benefits, such as supporting heart health.

Yogurt (nonfat)

When compared to snacks of cheese, milk, and water, yogurt had the

greatest ability to suppress appetite, according to a study published

in the
British Journal of Nutrition
. The subjects rated their hunger as 24 percent lower after eating yogur
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t than after eating the cheese or

drinking the milk or water. It’s important to know—the subjects ate

less food later in the day after consuming any of the dairy products in

the study, but yogurt did the trick more than the milk or cheese.

Aside from fil ing you up, yogurt is pretty much a nutritional al -

star, as long as you’re not eating varieties fil ed with artificial sweeteners or junky add-ins like chocolate chips. It has healthy bacteria that can

support digestion, and it contains calcium. Greek yogurt in particular is typical y much higher in protein and lower in sugar overal .

Eggs

There have bee
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n several studies regarding how eggs affect fullness,

and they all point to the notion that eggs have more of a tendency to

“stick to your ribs,” especially when compared to carbohydrate- centric

mea
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ls. Subjects in these studies ate less throughout the day after eat-

ing eggs for either breakfast or lunch, and one study even showed that

they ate less for the following 36 hours.

There’s little doubt that the protein found in eggs is high quality

and is often considered to be the standard to which all other forms

of protein are compared because of its broad range of amino acids.

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Eggs are also good sources of vitamins A, E, and B12, and they’re

inexpensive.

Cod

There have been a few studies looking at how meals consisting of fish

protein affect satiety. One study published in the
European Journal of
Clinical Nutrition
compared the effects of cod and beef o
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n subjects’

hunger and satiety. What they found was that the participants ate less

at a meal later that day after having consumed the cod at an earlier

meal. What does this mean? Well, it could indicate that cod has the

ability to make you feel fuller for longer so that you don’t feel the need to eat as much later on.

Codfish is also a low-calorie, delicious type of white fish that is

highly versatile in recipes. And with the growing concerns about fish

containing dangerous levels of mercury, it’s good to know that codfish

is among the group of fish with the low
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est amount of mercury, accord-

ing to the Food and Drug Administration. (Other fish typically found

to pose a low mercury risk are shellfish, light canned tuna, and smaller ocean fish.) Plus, it’s worth mentioning that regularly eating fish can

support heart health.

Rye

Whole-grain rye has been shown, in several studies, to increase the feeling of lasting ful ness, even when compared to other whole grains such as wheat. Participant
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s in one study published in the journal
Physiology and

Behavior
felt a lower desire to eat for the four hours after eating a whole-grain rye breakfast. Some researchers point to the high water-binding

capacity of rye fiber (which causes it to stay in your stomach longer) as the possible reason why it increases the sense of ful ness.

Whole-grain rye products (such as rye crackers, rye flakes, and rye

bread
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) are healthy complex carbohydrates to include in your diet.

Tofu

Now, I know you might have some trepidation about tofu (“You mean

that
mushy
stuff?”), but put your fears aside and give it a try because I think you’ll be surprised at just how versatile it is.

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Here are just a few reasons why you should learn to love tofu.

According to a study published in the journal
Appetite
, when researchers compared the effects of a tofu meal to the effects of a chicken meal, they found that the tofu meal kept the participants full for several

hours longer following the meal. Also, soy foods have been found to

support healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Whey protein

Whey protein is one of two major groups of protein fou
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nd in dairy

milk. It’s often used in protein shakes and powders. A study published

in the
British Journal of Nutrition
compared how meals consisting of whey protein, tuna, turkey, and egg white protein affected participants’ satiety. They found that hunger was significantly lower after

the whey meal than after the tuna, turkey, and egg meals. The whey

protein meal reduced appetite and decreased calorie intake at a later

meal compared with the other prote
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in meals, indicating a potential

for appetite suppression and weight loss in overweight individuals.

Time-Release Combinations

The new theories and research presented in this section suggest that

when you balance carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats correctly

in your meals, they can create a time-release effect in your body.

My team has used this information to design balanced meals that