Chris Shugart
Appetite Control Without Drugs
You don’t need an injection to curb your appetite during a diet. Try these healthy, natural solutions instead.
The best diet is feeling full. The worst diet, however, might be feeling no hunger at all. There is a difference. It’s healthy to squash hunger by eating nourishing, satiating foods. It’s unhealthy to never be hungry. Loss of appetite is, after all, one of the last actions of several disease states. The final action is death.
This is one of the problems with weight-loss drugs using semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy, GLP-1 receptor agonists). These injectables suppress hunger mostly by slowing gastric emptying and regulating blood sugar. While these drugs “work,” most users regain the weight after cessation. The current studies show users gaining back about two-thirds of the weight. Some regain more than they lost on the drugs.
But there’s another issue: metabolism damage. When you have zero appetite, you don’t consume enough protein to maintain muscle. When you lose muscle, you slow your metabolism and regain all the weight, even if you’re eating what was previously a maintenance number of calories.
Luckily, there’s another way to control appetite: healthy food and food supplements, many of which work through the same mechanisms as the drugs.
Four Foods and Supplements that Control Appetite
The goal isn’t to destroy the desire to eat. Rather, the goal is to reduce calories without feeling like you’re starving and to make it a little easier to choose goal-supportive foods.
1. Protein
Protein is the most satiating macronutrient, and the most thermogenic. Go ahead, try to overeat enough protein to gain body fat. You’ll just get very full and burn more calories.
A low-protein diet actually triggers overeating and cravings. If you don’t meet your body’s natural protein threshold, it “asks” for more. Only problem? Most people reach for carby snacks instead of protein. Based on the studies, that minimal, hunger-stopping amount of protein is between 85 and 138 grams per day, far less the average American consumes.
Hunger regulation begins and ends with protein intake, so make sure you’re hitting the minimal number. Have at least one, two-scoop MD Protein (Buy at Amazon) shake per day to make it easy. Or just use MD Protein to make satiating snacks, like these. To control the number of calories you eat during big meals, have a scoop 20 minutes before eating as part of the protein preloading strategy.
2. Psyllium
It’s been called the poor man's Ozempic. Psyllium is a form of soluble fiber derived from the seeds of the Plantago ovata plant. You know it as Metamucil (Buy at Amazon), the orange-flavored drink that makes Grandma poop. But it has more uses than that.
Have a serving with a big glass of water 20 minutes before large meals and you’ll painlessly reduce the amount you eat. Or have it between meals when the hunger bug bites. Psyllium forms into a gel-like substance in the digestive tract and helps you feel full. It also controls the release of ghrelin and Peptide YY, enhancing the effects of these hunger-controlling peptides. As a bonus, psyllium helps support healthy gut bacteria.
Alternatively, glucomannan, a root fiber, works the same way (1).
3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil)
According to one study (Howe, 2014) omega-3s “… offer multiple mechanisms to counteract obesity, including appetite suppression.”
Researchers think it might have something to do with brain neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Omega-3s also increase levels of PYY and leptin, the "I'm full" hormones. They also reduce ghrelin, the "feed me" hormone. As with all things fish oil, benefits are dose-dependent, and you need a big hit of omega-3s to realize the appetite-control effects. Three capsules of Flameout (Buy at Amazon) should be more than enough.
4. Green Tea
According to one meta-study, green tea catechins combined with caffeine significantly increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation while helping with appetite control (2). The caffeine component may decrease your perception of hunger, but it’s probably the catechins doing most of the work. Green tea catechins modulate the appetite-regulation hormones (ghrelin and leptin) with the overall effect of reducing hunger.
Green tea also appears to improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity. Stable blood sugar levels reduce cravings. Some studies also suggest that green tea may delay gastric emptying, making you feel full longer.
Related: Yerba mate drinks contain saponins, which may slow down the emptying of the stomach and help with feeling full. Research is limited, however.
If you’re not fan of leaf water, you can get a big dose of green tea catechins in Biotest Superfood (Buy at Amazon).
References
- Walsh, D. E., Yaghoubian, V., Behforooz, A., & Effect of glucomannan on obese patients: a clinical study. (1984). International journal of obesity, 8(4), 289-293.
- Hursel, R., Viechtbauer, W., Westerterp-Plantenga, M. S. (2009). The effects of green tea on weight loss and weight maintenance: a meta-analysis.
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