The effects of consuming eggs for lunch on satiety and subsequent food intake

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to investigate the effects of eggs consumed for lunch on satiety, satiation and subsequent energy intake at the next meal. Thirty-one healthy male and female subjects participated in a randomized, three-way, crossover study. Following consumption of a standard breakfast, participants were asked to consume three isocaloric test lunches: omelette, jacket potato and chicken sandwich. Subjective measures of satiety were recorded using visual analog scales at regular intervals throughout the day. Energy intake at the next meal was assessed 4 h after lunch with an ad libitum meal. The egg lunch showed a significantly stronger satiating effect compared with the jacket potato meal. No effect on energy intake was seen. These data indicate that consumption of an omelette meal consumed at lunch could increase satiety to a greater extent than a carbohydrate meal and may facilitate reduction of energy consumption between meals.

Keywords::

• Protein
• lunch
• appetite
• visual analog scale

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all volunteers for their participation.

Declarations of interest: The present study was funded by the British Egg Industry Council, London, UK and was conducted by the Nutrition Research Team at Leatherhead Food Research. None of the authors had any other personal or financial conflict of interest. All of the authors were involved in study design and project planning. All authors planned and managed the study, wrote the manuscript and approved the document for publication.