For example, if I eat a small steak with 500 calories, will I feel full for longer than if I ate 10 rice cakes with 30 calories each?
In: 88
The body has no “calorie counter” function.
Hunger is a complex phenomena, but there are a few hormonal drivers.
In the short term, the hunger hormone ghrelin is signal for hunger to go up. The concept of satiety is roughly the inverse of ghrelin level – foods that lead to higher satiety lead to lower ghrelin. Note that satiety is typically measured for 2 hours and that’s a bit misleading.
In the longer term, the hormone leptin is secreted by fat cells. More fat cells means more leptin, and that drives hunger down. Unfortunately, people who are insulin resistant are also leptin resistant so high leptin levels do not down-regulate hunger.
Your question is about satiety. Generally speaking, a steak will have high satiety because it has a lot of protein and fat, and rice cakes are almost pure carbs, and will likely lead to high satiety that goes away a couple of hours later.
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