Protein is even making its way into breakfast cereals—both hot and cold. Protein boosts satiety, it’s clean-label friendly—from sports drinks to snack bars—and, according to a new study published in The Journal of Nutrition, high-protein soy-based afternoon snacks improve appetite, satiety and diet quality in adolescents, while beneficially influencing aspects of mood and cognition (May 20, 2015).
During the study, 31 healthy adolescents randomly ate the following afternoon snacks for three days: a high-protein snack (26 g of protein/6 g of fat per 27 g of carbohydrates), a high-fate snack (4 g of protein/12 g of fat per 32 g of carbohydrates) and no snack.
What the researchers found is high-protein, but not high-fat, delayed eating initiation versus no snack, and both snacks reduced appetite versus no snack with high-protein eliciting greater reductions than high-fay. Only high-fat led to reductions in corticolimbic activation in brain regions controlling food motivation/reward versus no snack. Although no treatment differences in daily energy intake were detected, high-protein led to greater protein consumption than no snack, and greater protein and lower fat consumption than high-fat. High protein led to fewer high-fat/high-sugar evening snacks than no snack and high-fat. Although no treatment effects were detected for mood and cognition, high-protein tended to reduce confusion-bewilderment and increase cognitive flexibility, whereas no snack reduced tension-anxiety and vigor-activity.
