4 Craving Crushing Foods

Tough time avoiding the snack drawer ‘til that next meal? Crush cravings by making these four foods a big part of your daily menu.

Besides spending an ample amount of time on the gym floor, satiety is an important part of the fat-fighting equation since people who feel satisfied more often are less likely to snack needlessly between meals. That’s why we rounded up a quartet of the best foods that will take a sledgehammer to your hunger so you won’t be tempted by the vending machine and torpedo your six-pack.

Oatmeal

If you want to silence your hunger pangs all morning long, then make sure to rise and dine on ye olde oatmeal. A 2015 study published in the Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism found that subjects who consumed oatmeal for breakfast felt a greater sense of fullness and consumed 31 percent fewer calories during a follow-up meal than when they consumed the same number of calories in the form of a sugary boxed cereal. The hunger-crushing affects of oatmeal can likely be attributed to its high levels of soluble fiber, which slows down digestion.

Need to know: To bolster satiety and also keep your gut-busting sugar intake in check, be sure to forgo the sugar laden packets of flavored oatmeal in favor of plain oats and jazz them up with some chopped nuts and fresh berries. Or even better, opt for steel-cut oatmeal. Soaking steel-cut oats overnight can slash the cooking time by half.

Greek Yogurt

Here’s more proof that deliciously thick Greek-style yogurt is worthy of a resounding Opa! Scientists at the University of Missouri discovered that healthy volunteers who consumed a high-protein yogurt snack in the afternoon experienced a greater reduction in hunger and calorie consumption during a dinner meal compared to when they ate a snack consisting of chocolate or crackers. During digestion, the sky-high levels of muscle-friendly protein in Greek yogurt sends satiety signals from your gut to your brain thereby acting as a natural appetite depressant and making this great white a near perfect option when a snack attack strikes.

Need to know: To limit your intake of excessive sugar and fat calories, choose a Greek yogurt that is unflavored and with no more than 2 percent fat.

Spinach

That pipe-puffing sailor was onto something when he turned to this green giant to build his hulking pipes. A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition discovered that compounds in spinach called thylakoids can dull hunger and cravings. A nifty little trick attributed to the power of thylakoids to increase the release of satiety hormones. This can be incredibly valuable when going on a carb- or calorie-restricted diet.

Need to know: To limit your desire for second helpings of pasta Bolognese, kick off a meal with a big bowl of a hunger-fighting spinach laced salad.

Avocado

Yes, you can eat fat to lose fat. Investigators at Loma Linda University determined that participants who included half of an avocado with their lunch reduced their desire to eat by 40 percent over a three-hour period and by 28 percent over a five-hour period following the meal compared to when lunch was consumed sans avocado. The dynamic duo of fiber and healthy fats in this creamy delight can improve blood sugar control, which helps waylay hunger.

Need to know: Instead of nutritionally lackluster mayo, try mashing up a ripe avocado and use this instead for your lunch sandwich spread.