How does the fiber we eat in foods impact our appetites and our resting metabolic rate?

The amount of calories burned just by existing.

What happens when we eat fiber-filled foods like beans?

Researchers in Sweden gave people beans for supper, and by the next morning, after their friendly

flora had a chance to eat them too, their satiety hormones like PYY were up, their hunger

hormone ghrelin was down, and they reported feeling less hungry.

The researchers didn't measure subsequent food intake, but a similar study with whole grain

rye for supper did, and found a decrease in food intake at lunch the next day. Those who had

eaten the fiber-rich food the night before felt fully satiated with about a hundred fewer calories

at a meal more than 12 hours later.

So by eating fiber-rich foods, you're setting yourself up for success.

Reduce caloric intake at a single meal, or even over a whole day,

doesn't necessarily translate into long-term weight loss, though,

as our body may find ways of compensating. Experimentally delivering short-chain fatty acids directly to the colon every day for months

does reduce abdominal fat, liver fat, and overall weight gain.

But what about getting them the old-fashioned way, eating fiber through our mouth?

A 2022 systematic review of meta-analysis compilation of more than two dozen randomized controlled trials of various straight fiber supplements versus placebo, found that those study participants in the groups taking the actual fiber, lost an average of about two and a half pounds more than those in the control groups.

These are studies only averaging 17 weeks long,

though there have been fiber supplementation trials

that have lasted up to a year,

and they showed significantly more weight loss.

The fiber supplement findings were inconsistent, however,

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