25 Drinks and Foods that Suppress Appetite and Cravings
Key Takeaways:
Foods that suppress appetite generally fall into three categories: 1) high-volume yet low-calorie foods, 2) high-protein foods, and 3) high-fat foods.
High-volume yet low-calorie foods “stretch” the gastrointestinal tract, prompting it to send satiety signals to the brain.
High-protein foods suppress appetite by decreasing ghrelin levels while increasing CCK and GLP-1 levels.
Not all high-fat foods are equally satiating; the ones you’re interested in would be unsaturated fats.
Certain foods may also contain unique bioactives with appetite-suppressing effects. Examples include cayenne pepper and ginger.
We’ve all been there.
It’s 3 pm, and your colleagues can hear your stomach demanding to be fed. Despite the furtive glances snuck your way, you’re in two minds about snacking — whatever you eat will likely nudge you out of your carefully planned calorie deficit.
Sometimes, you manage to make it to dinner victorious. Sheer will: 1, hunger: 0. Sometimes, though, the hunger gets too overwhelming, and you give in.
Do you find yourself in the latter category more often than the former?
To change that, consider getting more of the following 25 drinks and foods that suppress appetite in your meals. Plus, an unintended upside? You might find fewer random snacks your colleagues “forgot about” on your desk.
General types of foods that suppress appetite
Foods that suppress appetite typically fall into three categories.
#1: High-volume, low-calorie foods
To illustrate the concept of high-volume, low-calorie foods, look at the calorie count of 100 grams of:
Apples: 52 calories
Potato chips: 536 calories
You did not read that wrongly: 100 grams of potato chips contain more than ten times the calories than apples.
And that’s dangerous because one of the ways your brain senses that you’ve had enough to eat is through a stretched intestine and/or stomach (researchers are still debating which — intestine or stomach stretch receptors — play a more critical role in “switching off” hunger).
In other words?
Hypothetically speaking, if your gastrointestinal tract needs 300 grams of food to be sufficiently stretched, here’s how many calories you’d end up eating with:
Apples: 156 calories
Potato chips: A staggering 1,608 calories
A huge difference.
Beyond apples, there are also many other foods that suppress appetite by being “bulky” yet are relatively low in calories. These would be your fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and certain seeds:
Sweet potatoes
Vegetable soup
Oatmeal
Lentils
Green leafy vegetables
Flax seeds
Salad
#2: Foods high in protein
Under most conditions, protein is more satiating than a calorie-matched dose of carbohydrate or fat.
In fact, research has consistently shown that a modest increase in dietary protein (at the expense of the other two macronutrients) may promote weight loss through reduced energy consumption.
But how does protein enhance feelings of fullness?
A 2020 review published in Physiology & Behavior suggests it may come down to protein’s impact on several appetite-regulating hormones:
Decrease ghrelin levels: Ghrelin is known as the “hunger hormone” for a reason; it’s responsible for stimulating appetite.
Increase cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) levels: Both CCK and GLP-1 inhibit gastric emptying, acid secretion, and motility, collectively decreasing appetite.
A decrease in hunger-stimulating ghrelin, stacked with an increase in fullness-boosting CCK and GLP-1? That’s a potent recipe for enhanced satiety.
That said, not all protein sources are created equal
In general, a “good” protein source will meet three criteria:
High protein-to-fat ratio: More of the calories the food provides should come from protein instead of fat. So, this means you should choose 100 grams of sirloin steak over ribeye steak, for example. (Sirloin steak: 108.4 calories from protein, 100.8 calories from fat; ribeye steak: 94.8 calories from protein, 196.2 calories from fat).
Minimally processed: The more processed a protein source, the more sodium and saturated fat it’ll contain. This means you should choose fresh or frozen meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy over prepackaged foods like popcorn chicken, pork gyozas, and meatballs.
Complete protein source: A complete protein source contains all nine essential amino acids (EAAs) your body needs. There’s a caveat for those following a vegan or vegetarian diet: simply ensuring a good variety of plant-based protein sources in your diet should be enough to help you meet your EAA needs.
What are some examples of protein-rich foods that suppress appetite and tick all three boxes above? Answer:
Eggs
Tofu (tau kwa, in particular)
Greek yogurt
Salmon
Salmon? Isn’t that an incredibly fatty fish?
Well, it is definitely fattier than a white fish, like halibut. But most of its calories still come from protein instead of fat. And besides, certain high-fat foods also act as excellent appetite suppressants.
#3: Foods high in fat
Keyword: certain. Not all fats are satiating.
So, what separates the ones that are satiating from the ones that aren’t? The structure of the fatty acids.
According to a 2015 study published in Obesity, a high-fat diet rich in unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) significantly decreased ghrelin levels more than one rich in saturated fatty acids (SFAs).
For the uninitiated, here’s the difference between UFAs and SFAs:
UFAs: Made of carbon atom chains that contain one or more double bonds; this reduces the number of hydrogen atoms attached to the chain. Because of their chemical structure, UFAs are usually liquid at room temperature. UFAs are considered heart-healthy, “beneficial fats” because they’re associated with improved blood cholesterol levels and lowered inflammation.
SFAs: Made of carbon atom chains with no double bonds. I.e., they contain many hydrogen atoms. This enables the fatty acids to pack closely with one another, explaining why SFAs are usually solid at room temperature. Unlike UFAs, SFAs are believed to raise low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, the “bad” cholesterol that increases your risk of heart disease.
Examples of high-fat foods that suppress appetite (i.e., foods high in unsaturated fats) include:
Almonds
Avocados
And, of course, salmon — but we covered that already
“Special” foods that suppress appetite
Interestingly, there are a few foods that suppress appetite in ways that are outside of the three mechanisms shared above. Their secret? Unique appetite-suppressing bioactives. Let’s examine a few examples:
Dark chocolate (cocoa content): A 2011 study published in Nutrition & Diabetes found that participants felt more satiated and less hungry after consuming 100 grams of dark chocolate than after eating the milk chocolate.
Ginger (e.g., phenolic compounds and terpenes): A 2012 study published in Metabolism linked reduced feelings of hunger with ginger consumption.
Cayenne pepper and hot sauce (capsaicin): Predictably, research has consistently shown the consumption of “hot”, capsaicin-rich foods to suppress appetite.
Wasabi (6-MSITC): As anyone who’s accidentally put a bigger-than-usual pinch on their sushi would know, wasabi is spicy. So, it’s no surprise that a 2022 animal study supports wasabi’s appetite-suppressing effects.
Cinnamon (e.g., cinnamaldehyde and terpenes): Research suggests that cinnamon may delay gastric emptying, which is known to promote feelings of fullness.
Now that we’ve covered foods, let’s move on to drinks — because the last thing you want is to successfully keep hunger at bay only to bust your calorie budget on a bubble tea unknowingly.
A few great homemade appetite-suppressant drinks
For lasting satiety, here are a few drink options you could sip throughout the day:
Coffee: There is some evidence that the caffeine in coffee may suppress appetite.
Green tea: Contains two compounds believed to exert appetite-suppressing effects: caffeine and catechins (epigallocatechin 3-gallate or EGCG, to be specific).
Skim milk: High in satiating protein. A 2009 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the consumption of skim milk, compared with a fruit drink, increased perceptions of satiety at a subsequent meal.
Protein shakes: High in satiating protein, too. According to a 2017 meta-analysis published in Clinical Nutrition Aspen, whey protein supplementation significantly reduced long-term appetite.
Fiber drinks: These are essentially high-volume yet low-calorie drinks that’ll “stretch” your gastrointestinal tract, “tricking” it into sending satiety signals to your brain.
What to know about drinks and foods that suppress appetite
Here’s a much-needed reality check: just because the drinks and foods listed in this article suppress appetite doesn’t mean you can eat or drink to your heart’s content.
They still contain calories.
Also, you’ll need to account for how they were prepared and/or cooked. Case in point? The calories you’ll get from a salad dressed with two tablespoons of creamy Caesar salad (163 calories) differs wildly from one that’s dressed with non-fat yogurt (16.7 calories).
Ultimately, it’s important to remember that drinks and foods that suppress appetite complement a healthy lifestyle (instead of replacing it), where you:
Eat a well-balanced, nutritious diet (so you provide your body with what it needs for optimal health and wellbeing) and
Lead a physically active lifestyle (fun fact: regular exercise appears to improve your body’s sensitivity to satiety signals!)
Need more guidance on how to start and/or sustain a healthy lifestyle that’ll help you achieve your weight goals? Check out NOVI Optimum.
Get access to tailored nutrition + fitness plans and continuous support from your personal dietitian and health coach; everything you need to (finally) see results.