It's The Satiety, Stupid

You thought last week was the last of the presidential election references.

Sorry, I had to borrow one more.

James Carville is quite an entertaining political consultant, famous for his role in the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign where he coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid!”

James Carville ended up marrying Mary Matalin, who worked on the opposing 1992 campiagn to re-elect George H.W. Bush.

They became quite the media darlings telling their story of such an unlikely and rather caustic relationship…at times.

I saw that up close one time.

In 1994, they wrote a book All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President and had a book signing in Nashville, Tennessee that my wife and I attended.

They were both supposed to be there and when we got to the table for our autographed copy of the book, I asked Mary, who was alone at the table, “where’s….?”

And before I could finish Carville’s name she said, without an ounce of hesitation or compassion “Oh you mean serpent head? He’s sick back at the hotel.”

So when it comes to the gut health discussion this week, in the spririt of channeling my inner James Carville, its the satiety, stupid.

I read an interesting article this week about the holy grail everyone seems to be chasing these days- satiety. Rather than dive back into all the science of hormones (insulin, cortisol, ghrelin, GLP1, GIP, Peptide YY, CCK, sympathetic tone), or make you watch Ozempic commercials like they’re political ads, I found a simpler example.

In Drink Soup, not Soda for Weight Loss, Dr. Jason Fung discusses the role of satiety in weight loss. And he has a rather interesting take on the food matrix as he delves into the role viscosity plays in helping us achieve that feeling of being “full”.

Most of this interaction occurs in the gut and the rest resides in the gut-brain axis arena.

His 8-minute article goes something like this.

He basically illustrates how drinking your calories has a markedly lesser effect than the same caloric intake with something with much greater viscosity.

“A viscous liquid is thick and sticky due to internal friction between molecules. Think about the difference between molasses and water. The viscosity of the liquids we drink makes a big difference to satiety.”

He goes on to observe:

“The viscous fluid creates a gel like matrix within the stomach and distends it, causing us to feel full due to stretch receptors in the stomach. It also slows gastric emptying because this gel is thicker than a thin liquid. In addition, the nutrients become trapped within the gel slows digestion and absorption. This reduces the insulin surge often seen with ultra-processed foods like pizza. This makes you feel more full.”

The best example of viscosity that I see on a daily basis is the metamorphosis that occurs when the average mortal pours a glass of milk kefir, adds a few tablespoons of chia seeds, and 5-10 minutes later a spoon is required to shovel the gel-like kefir out of the glass.

Chia seeds have the ability to expand significantly as they absorb liquid. It’s a viscosity experiment that normally occurs in your gut completed right before your eyes.

And I won’t have any of the “they get stuck in my teeth” whining about chia seeds.

Chia seeds are life. That’s a hill I will die on.

The physical form of food or drink, the food matrix plays a significant role in reducing hunger. And remember, we stop eating because we’re full, not because we think we’ve consumed enough calories from protein or fiber or fat.

Fung goes on to write:

“Across multiple studies and multiple types of foods, it becomes clear that drinking your calories (low viscosity, thin liquid) does not satiate hunger, where more viscous (soup, jellies, yogurt) liquids do.”

That’s a quick rundown of much of what we already knew. The exact same caloric intake of a drink matched against the exact same amount of chicken eaten will produce different levels of satiety.

And thicker liquids like a hearty bisque or thick soup with greater viscosity will produce much longer satiation than a bottle of soda.

When it comes to weight loss, satiety is your friend. Or if Carville was explaining it, It’s the satiety, stupid.

And as always, thanks for reading,

Jeff