Higher-protein foods produce greater sensory-specific satiety.

The objectives of this study were to determine if high-protein versions of the same food systems show more sensory-specific satiety than lower-protein versions, and to determine the effect of these protein differences on hunger levels following a meal. Subjects ate a high-protein and a low-protein version of a food system (either strawberry yogurt or a sandwich) as test meals. The high-protein strawberry yogurt test meal consisted of a serving of strawberry yogurt that contained whey protein isolate; the low-protein yogurt test meal consisted of a close-to-commercial strawberry yogurt. The high-protein sandwich meal consisted of a ham sandwich; the low-protein sandwich meal consisted of a bacon sandwich. Subjects tasted small portions of a set of foods (which included a sample of the test meal), and rated their liking of these foods before and after eating a test meal. Sensory-specific satiety occurred for all test meals. The decreases in liking when the high-protein versions of the test meals were eaten were significantly greater than the decreases in liking for the paired low-protein test meals. Higher-protein versions of the test meals also decreased hunger more than the lower-protein versions.