Needless to deny it, the real enemy of the diets is the sense of hunger that grips us suddenly and we may eat things that in “normal” situations do not eat, for this reason, when starting a diet is good to consider the ‘index of satiety of food allowed. This fact, together with that dell’appetibilità of food, is as important as counting calories.

The index of satiety, or the degree of fullness that a food has been studied for the first time in 1995 by Australian researchers Suzanna Holt, his study showed that the most important factors that determine the index of satiety are: the energy density or the calories in 100 grams of food: in other words, the index of satiety decreases when increases the energy density, the fibers can easily satiate, macronutrients, or foods rich in protein but low in fat have a high index of fullness, unlike carbohydrates and fats.

Studies have shown that the most satiating foods, exceptions apart, they are vegetables, fruits, lean meats and fish, and yogurt in addition, has once again been confirmed as the high-calorie foods are also the least satiating.

According to the experts, the satiety index is a value ranging from 0 to 5, and then you can define the limit to 2.5 above which the food is very satiating, and below, they are less.

But if we look at a prepared meal instead of a single food, things become easier, because cooked food can be grouped in several categories, such as basic pasta first courses, second courses of meat or fish or vegetable side dishes, the energy density reveals the only thing really important to understand the index of satiety. For each category of food can lead to a range of energy density within which the index of satisfaction varies in a linear fashion, for example, for first and second courses that range is 80 to 150 kcal per 100 grams.