Anahad O’Connor

Do you eat foods that leave you hungry or full? Take our quiz.

Do the foods you eat leave you feeling full and satisfied? Or do you often feel hungry and want more?

If you find yourself snacking, craving foods or feeling hungry a lot of the time, you may be eating the wrong foods. Take our quiz to find out why.

Which breakfast is most likely to leave you satisfied until lunch?

Plain Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries

Yogurt and berries win this contest. That’s because the dish typically has more protein and fiber than the other choices. Fiber and protein have been shown to promote satiety for many reasons. Fiber causes food to travel more slowly from your stomach to your intestines, making you feel full. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36193993/?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template" target="_blank">It stimulates the release</a> of hormones such as GLP-1, which curbs hunger (GLP-1 is the hormone that is mimicked by Ozempic and Wegovy, the popular diabetes and weight loss drugs). Protein is satiating because of its so-called thermic effect: Our bodies spend a lot of calories digesting and absorbing protein compared to fat and carbs.

A new app <a href="https://www.hava.co/?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template" target="_blank">called Hava</a>, which was developed by a team led by Andreas Eenfeldt, a Swedish physician, uses an algorithm to predict whether any given food will promote satiety. The score is based on four factors: protein and fiber content, calories per gram (called calorie density) and hyper-palatability, which is a measure of various combinations of fat, sugar, sodium and carbs that can make foods seem irresistible.

Every food is given a score from zero to 100. High scores are given to foods that are filling and nutritious, while low scores are given to foods that are unlikely to be satiating. Hava gives plain Greek yogurt with fresh strawberries a score of 82. Scrambled eggs scores 65 and oatmeal scores 52 — making both decent choices for breakfast. If you’re looking for a lasting and satisfying breakfast, the worst choice is cereal. Most cereals are high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fiber, and many varieties have added sugar. A bowl of cheerios with whole milk scores 37 on the Hava scale.

Which lunch will leave you feeling full for longer?

Grilled salmon filet with lemon butter

Many people consider salmon to be a light dish, but it’s high in protein and rich in nutrients, including heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. The Hava app gives grilled salmon with lemon butter a satiety score of 78. Pair it with a side of cooked vegetables for an even more filling meal. Or, if you’re vegetarian, try substituting tofu or tempeh for a plant-based, satiety-inducing option.

A Subway turkey melt sandwich gets a satiety score of 47 from Hava. It’s fairly high in protein, and you’ll get a decent amount of fiber depending on how many veggies you add and the type of bread you choose. But it’s also relatively high in fat and sodium.

The lowest satiety score — 21 — goes to pepperoni pizza. It’s high in refined carbs, fat, and sodium and it packs a lot of calories in one serving. The cheeseburger, for similar reasons, is not much better. It gets a satiety score of 26.

Which of the following snacks really satisfies you?

Nature Valley Oats ‘n Honey Crunchy Granola bar

Fage Total 2 percent cherry-flavored Greek yogurt

Despite the fun advertising campaign, a Snickers bar, with its blend of caramel, nougat and peanuts dipped in chocolate, is actually the snack most likely to leave you feeling even more hungry. It not only packs a lot of calories into a small package, but it’s a big serving of fat and sugar — a hedonic combination that can leave you craving more.

Scientists call foods that have large concentrations of fat and sugar, fat and sodium, or carbs and sodium hyper-palatable. These foods — such as cake, cookies, candy bars, potato chips and French fries — have been shown in studies to light up the reward system in our brains, driving us to overeat them.

Of the choices on this list, cherry-flavored Greek yogurt is the best snack option. It’s high in protein and has fewer calories per serving compared to the other foods.  But fruit-flavored yogurts usually have added sugar in them. So, while flavored yogurt is fine for an occasional snack, it’s better to buy plain Greek yogurt and add your own fresh fruit to avoid any extra sugar or unnecessary additives.

The Hava app gives a Snickers bar a satiety score of zero. Cherry-flavored Greek yogurt gets a score of 52, while the Nature Valley Granola bar gets a 6 and the Harvest Cheddar SunChips get a score of 5.

A spokesman for Snickers said, "The tagline ‘Snickers Satisfies’ is intended to highlight the pleasure and fulfillment experienced when enjoying Snickers’ unique blend of roasted peanuts, caramel, nougat and milk chocolate,” a spokesman said. "While Snickers pack 4g of protein in each serving, it should be enjoyed in moderation.”

Which chicken dinner is most likely to fill you up with the fewest calories?

Grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes.

Six chicken nuggets with ranch dipping sauce.

A bowl of chicken noodle soup is likely to produce the most satiety for the fewest calories. A grilled chicken breast is also a good choice. The chicken nuggets would be the least filling option. That’s because chicken nuggets are very calorie dense. They contain a lot of calories crammed into a fairly small package, which is one of the most significant factors that drives people to overeat without even realizing it.

Calorie density, also known as energy density, is a measure of the concentration of calories in any given volume of food. Foods such as crackers, potato chips, chicken nuggets, candy bars and pastries, are very calorie dense. Foods that contain more water, like fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, lean meats and fish, yogurt, and soups, have a relatively low calorie-density.

If you swap the calorie-dense foods in your diet for foods that have a lower calorie-density you’ll end up eating fewer calories and you won’t be hungry because you’re consuming roughly the same weight of food each day. It’s an important concept because studies have found that people tend to eat a fairly consistent weight of food each day — the main variable is how many calories you’re packing into each bite.

<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4182946/?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template" target="_blank">Clinical trials have found</a> that when people reduce the overall calorie density of their diets, they tend to lose a lot of weight even if they’re not instructed to eat fewer calories. “In all the studies we’ve done, calorie density has the most robust and reliable effect on food intake,” said Barbara J. Rolls, a professor of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University who studies satiety and obesity.

How did you score? Whether you want to improve the quality of your diet, eliminate hunger and cravings or lose weight, focusing on the satiety of the foods you eat can be a healthy and effective way to upgrade your eating habits. Look for foods high in protein and fiber, or make sure you combine your lean meat or fish dishes with lots of fiber-rich vegetables.

Do you have a question about healthy eating? Email <a href="mailto:EatingLab@washpost.com?itid=lk_inline_enhanced-template">EatingLab@washpost.com</a> and we may answer your question in a future column.

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Do you eat foods that leave you hungry or full? Take our quiz.

Question 1 of 4

Which breakfast is most likely to leave you satisfied until lunch?

Question 2 of 4

Which lunch will leave you feeling full for longer?

Question 3 of 4

Which of the following snacks really satisfies you?

Question 4 of 4

Which chicken dinner is most likely to fill you up with the fewest calories?

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