5 Natural Ways to Suppress Your Appetite

Losing weight is a matter of diet and exercise. There are no shortcuts. It is such a straightforward formula that you should be in a position to do it yourself. For you to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. This means you should take measures that see you consume either less food, or food that has fewer calories than you are used to, and at the same time exercising to keep burning more calories.  Since most people rarely exercise and cannot control bad feeding habits, you can use appetite suppressants to help you suppress your appetite. This will help you feel hungry less often and thus keep from snacking or eating excess food. While suppressants will help you achieve these, you can also incorporate natural suppressing methods to supplement your appetite suppressants. Here are a few natural ways you can take advantage of to keep your appetite at bay.

1.   Eat More Proteins

Incorporate more proteins in your diet. Proteins make you feel fuller, thus preventing you from snacking in between meals. You develop a habit of snacking in between meals because we get hungry before the next meal. This hunger has to do with quick digestion when you take foods quickly digested, such as vegetables and fruits only. Having more proteins in a diet that also incorporates vegetables and fruits will help you cut more weight than one with less protein. You will not have the urge to eat in between meals since you be feeling full for a longer time. A high protein diet is also good for your muscle health and growth.

2.   Drink Water Before Meals

Nutritionists recommend that you drink a glass of water just before you have your meals. The water makes you feel fuller and more satisfied after the meal. Additionally, drinking about 1.5 to 2 litres of water over the day reduces appetite and consequently, your weight. In a study that included 50 overweight females, those that had a habit of drinking water instead of snacking during the day reduced more weight than their counterparts who did not, and felt better and healthier. You can also opt to replace a glass of water with a liquid starter like soup. It makes you quell your hunger faster so that you consume less food. The less you consume, the less the calories you add.

3.   Eat Higher-fibre Foods

According to research, diets high in fibre are ideal for keeping obesity rates low. Dieticians assert that foods rich in fibre break slowly during the digestion process. When you take sweet potatoes and bananas in the morning, you will likely have your next meal in the evening skipping lunch. Fibre slows down digestion and has these foods stay longer in your stomach. You can take a fruit or two in between, but you will not have the urge to consume a whole meal for a longer time during the day, not unless you are involved in highly strenuous activities, in which case you will be burning even more calories than you will be consuming. Other healthy foods rich in fibre include whole grains, apples, and avocadoes among others.

4.   Reduce Alcohol Intake

Drinking alcohol is not only a health hazard but one of how you can add weight easily. Doctors recommend that you should ensure that you have at least something in your stomach if you must consume alcohol. This ideally means that you have to eat before taking alcohol to minimize its effects on your body. Unfortunately, alcohol also drains your body energy, forcing you to eat more to regain the same. Besides eating more, some alcoholic drinks such as beer have excess starch that the body converts to starch and stored as excess weight. You should either take alcohol in moderation or avoid it altogether.

5.   Mindful Eating

The simple process of concentrating on your food when eating can help suppress your appetite and have you eating less. The brain signals the neurons in your brain that stimulate your feeling of fullness when you focus on your food. If you are distracted, these neurons fail to record that you are consuming food even when you do. Your end up consuming more food than your body requires at that particular time. Studies show that mindful eating reducing binge and comfort eating. Concentration on the immediate activity helps suppress the urge to eat more than you need.