Portion Control CCK
<p class="default">04:24 PM, September 28, 2007
 
Portion Control Made Easy
A plate of asparagus contains a hunger-spoiling fiber called oligofructose,
so it's a great choice for an appetizer.
 
By Matt Fitzgerald
 
Portion control, or consciously limiting the size of your meals and snacks,
is one of the most effective and reliable ways to achieve and maintain a
healthy weight. A study published in Obesity Research found that portion
control produced more weight loss in a pool of obese subjects than reduced
fat intake, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, and increased
exercise.
 
It's not just obese men and women who can benefit from eating smaller
portions. Most of us, regardless of our size, eat more food than our
grandparents did. In fact, research suggests that the average American male
eats seven percent more calories per day now than he did in 1980, while the
average American woman consumes 17 percent more calories daily.
 
Practicing portion control can be difficult, however. A study by Barbara
Rolls, Ph.D., the author of Volumetrics, found that when subjects were
served larger-than-normal portions for 11 days, they not only ate more
during those 11 days, but they continued to eat more afterwards, on their
own. It seems we get accustomed to overeating, and as a result we may feel
hungry and deprived when we try to switch from excessive portions to
normal-size portions.
 
Based on these facts, nutrition researchers have lately focused on
developing strategies to enable people to eat smaller portions without
feeling hungry and deprived. One very promising strategy that has emerged
from these investigations is that of the hunger-spoiling appetizer. To
understand how this strategy works, you must first understand something
about how the body produces the feeling of satiety, or fullness.
 
Most people know intuitively that feelings of fullness are generated from
the stomach. When you eat, your stomach distends, or stretches. The
distension of your stomach stimulates the release of a protein called
cholecystokinin, or CCK. When CCK is released, the first thing it does is to
close down the valve from the stomach into the GI tract. This slows the
movement of food from the stomach. The longer food stays in your stomach,
the more full you feel. Because of its effects, CCK is sometimes referred to
as the "feel-full" protein.
 
Not all foods are equal when it comes to stimulating CCK and thus producing
fullness. Researchers such as Tanya Little, Ph.D., at the Department of
Medicine at Hope Hospital in Manchester, United Kingdom, have found that
particular types of proteins, protein fractions, fats and fibers have an
especially powerful hunger-killing effect compared to other nutrients. "Our
studies have demonstrated that a nutritional formulation containing these
ingredients, marketed as Satiatrim, dramatically slows the movement of food
through the stomach, acting as a sort of natural gastric pacemaker" says
Little. "It achieves this effect by stimulating the release of a number of
gut peptides, including cholecystokinin (CCK). The end result is that it
enhances and extends satiety and reduces the amount of food consumed in a
subsequent meal."
 
You can achieve a similar effect, although somewhat less efficiently, says
Little, using regular foods. Just eat a small appetizer comprising foods
that are rich in one or more of these filling nutrients before you eat a
full meal. The appetizer will stimulate CCK, which will start to close the
valve between your stomach and intestine before you dig into your main meal,
causing food to stay in your stomach longer so you fill up faster. You could
always force yourself to eat a normal-size meal after consuming such an
appetizer, but the idea is to take advantage of your reduced hunger by
practicing portion control.
 
So what are the best hunger-spoiling appetizers? They include low-fat dairy
foods, which contain hunger-spoiling whey protein; soy-based foods, which
contain hunger-spoiling protease enzymes; olive oil, avocados and macadamia
nuts, which have high levels of hunger-spoiling oleic acid; and wheat,
tomatoes and asparagus, which are rich in hunger-spoiling oligofructose (a
type of fiber).
 
Here are a few suggested hunger-spoiling appetizers to help you practice
portion control without hunger and feelings of deprivation:
- Whole-wheat crackers with reduced-fat cheddar cheese
- Edamame (steamed soy beans)
- Garden salad with tomatoes, avocado and olive oil dressing
- Miso soup
- Glass of skim milk
- Tomato soup
- Steamed asparagus with olive oil dressing
 
_
Matt Fitzgerald is a certified sports nutritionist and the author of several
books on triathlon and running, including Runner's World Performance
Nutrition for Runners (Rodale, 2005).
 
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