Research on eggs and satiety
There is emerging evidence from published studies that eggs may contribute to greater satiety [1,2,3].
One study observed overweight and obese women to see whether what they consumed at breakfast influenced their energy intake during the rest of the day [1]. When the women were given either an egg or bagel-based-breakfast of equal energy density, those eating the eggs felt fuller and had less desire to eat other foods within the following 24 hours.
In a second study, overweight and obese subjects, given two eggs a day for breakfast, lost 65% more weight than those eating a similar breakfast without eggs [2]. The subjects were asked to follow an energy reduced diet while eating either a bagel or egg-based breakfast of equal energy density. The authors concluded that the egg breakfast enhanced weight loss when included as part of a reduced energy regimen and attributed these observations to the satiating quality of eggs.
The findings of these studies are supported by a third more recent study, which compared the effects of a three egg, low carbohydrate breakfast and a high carbohydrate, low fat, bagel breakfast on satiety, this time in a group of men ( n=21; age 20-70 years). This study also explored some potential physiological mechanisms for the observed effects on satiety. As in the previous studies, subsequent energy intake from an ad-libitum lunch was measured, but plasma glucose, and the ‘appetite hormones’ (insulin, ghrelin, leptin and glucagon-like peptide 1 and peptide YY) were also measured over the course of the 180 minutes between the two meals. The authors reported that the subjects were less hungry and consumed less energy at lunch after the egg breakfast, as well as less energy over the subsequent 24 hours (measured by food diary). Participants also showed a reduced glucose and insulin response to the egg breakfast compared with the bagel breakfast and the response of ghrelin (the only hormone known to stimulate hunger) was suppressed. There were no observed differneces in the other hormones. The authors suggest that eating eggs may control hunger by reducing the postprandial insulin response and promote satiety by preventing large deviations in plasma glucose and insulin levels.
References
- Vander Wal JS, Marth JM, Khosla P, Jen K-LC, Dhurandhar NV (2005) Short term effect of eggs on satiety in overweight and obese subjects. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 245: 510-515.
- Vander Wal JS, Gupta A, Khosla P, Dhurandhar NV (2008) Egg breakfast enhances weight loss. International Journal of Obesity 32: 1545-1551.
- Ratliff J, Leite JO, de Ogburn R, Puglisi MJ, VanHeest J, Fernandez ML (2010) Consuming eggs for breakfast influences plasma glucose and ghrelin, while reducing energy intake during the next 24 hours in adult men. Nutrition Research 30: 96-103