Greek yogurt, banana, and strawberry smoothie

Why it is filling

Calories you drink tend to be less filling than the same calories in solid food, so this smoothie is not the most filling option on this list. Its advantage lies elsewhere: when chewing is hard or your stomach fills up fast, it lets you get the protein from the yogurt and milk plus a serving of fruit in sips, cold, and with no cooking smells.

In numbers, each serving has 17.8 g of protein and 3.2 g of fiber, with an energy density of 62 kcal per 100 g of the dish. In the satiety index by Holt and colleagues (1995), the foods that were most filling per calorie were those with more protein, fiber, and water and less fat.

High in protein

At least 15 g of protein per serving and 6 g per 100 kcal.

Easy to digest

A soft dish with little fat (20 g or less per serving) and no large amounts of ingredients that often cause gas or nausea. This is an editorial call, not a measurement.

Low energy density

100 kcal or less per 100 g of the dish: plenty of volume for few calories.

Hydrating

At least 85 g of water per 100 g of the dish, not counting cooking water.

If your appetite is small

• If it fills you up too much, split it into two glasses and have one mid-morning.
• Freeze the banana in slices and use it straight from the freezer: the smoothie comes out colder and creamier.
• You can swap the skim milk for unsweetened soy milk.