Why proteins and fats are more satiating than carbs?

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

The human body is a perfect machinery where each action is coordinated and executed by expert employees called hormones.

Understanding the physiology of hormones can be helpful for all of us looking to have a fit lifestyle. We need to just look at the basics, without getting influenced by changing diet trends and different fads, that are successful in one era and the villain in another.

For eg, for a long time , especially from the 20th century, people were advised to decrease fats in the diet and have more carbohydrates.

A simple look at the physiology of gut hormones makes one question how this could have been a sound advice in any era.

Photo by Joel Ambass on Unsplash

The gut secrets the following hormones:

1. Gastrin — Gastrin is secreted by the G cells of the stomach in response to either stretching or foods that are rich in amino acids. The role of gastrin is to lead to the production of gastric acid and to stimulate the growth of gastric mucosa.
2. Cholecystokinin — or CCK. CCK is a hormone released by the I cells of the small intestine in response to fats. The role of the hormone is to cause contraction of the gall bladder to lead to the release of bile — to digest the fats and the second , is to inhibit stomach contractions — it delays gastric emptying , to give more time for the digestion of the fats in the upper intestinal tract. CCK also inhibits appetite and prevents overeating during meals . It does so by acting on the nerves present around the gut that send stimuli via the vagus nerve to the feeding centres in the brain and inhibit them.
3. Secretin — released by the small intestine in response to acidic gastric juice from the stomach, this leads to the release of bicarbonate from the pancreas, to neutralise the acid from the stomach such that it does not damage the intestines.
4. Gastric inhibitory peptide or Glucose dependent insulinotropic peptide — is secreted by the small intestine in response to proteins and fats , and less in response to carbohydrates or sugars and leads to the delay in gastric emptying. This also stimulates insulin secretion but at levels less than those needed to inhibit gastric motility.

All the hormones that delay gastric emptying respond to two food groups — either proteins or fats.

The most satiating food group, the one that has the highest thermogenic value and the one that keeps a person full the longest — is food rich in fatty acids.

Want to prevent overeating naturally?

Make it a point to include healthy fats at all meals.