As a group, fruits ranked at the top with a satiety index 1.7 times that of white bread. The Satiety Index Each of the following foods is rated by how much food people ate after consuming them to satisfy their hunger. Potatoes rank highest, seven times higher than the least-filling food, croissants. Cakes, donuts, and cookies are among the least filling. Oranges and apples outscore bananas.
Fish is more satisfying, per calorie, than lean beef or chicken.
Popcorn is twice as filling as a candy bar or peanuts. Holt's Food Satiety Index is the first of its kind demonstrating that foods with a high-fat content create almost instant cravings for more of the same. Croissants, for instance, had the lowest score of all the foods tested, even though most people think of them as filling. Chips gave almost twice as much satisfaction as doughnuts, and popcorn scored higher than All-Bran. We think the reason is that fat is seen by the body as a fuel which should be used only in emergencies - it stores it in the cells instead of breaking it down for immediate use.