You've surely noticed it sometime. You eat a croissant and coffee for breakfast, and an hour and a half later you're hungry again. In contrast, a breakfast with eggs or yogurt with nuts keeps you full until noon without thinking about it. Of all the nutrients we eat, protein is the most satiating, and it's worth understanding why: it's one of the simplest tools for eating better without feeling hungry.
Protein is more satiating than carbs and fat
For the same number of calories, a meal with a good protein base satisfies your hunger better than one with little protein. This is one of the most replicated and solid findings in research on diet and hunger. It doesn't mean that other nutrients aren't important or that you should eliminate them; it means that, calorie for calorie, protein makes you feel fuller and for longer.
Why this happens: three reasons, no magic
The first is hormonal. When you eat protein, your body releases more satiety signals (hormones like GLP-1, PYY, and CCK) and decreases ghrelin, the hormone that prompts you to seek food. Simply put: your body tells you sooner that you've had enough.
The second is digestion. Protein is digested more slowly than fast carbohydrates, so the stomach empties more gradually and the feeling of fullness lasts longer.
The third is that digesting protein costs energy. The body burns a portion of the protein's calories just to process it, significantly more than with carbohydrates or fats. It's a small detail, but it adds up throughout the day.
What you can truly expect
Here I want to be honest, because it's easy to oversell this. Protein is not a fat burner or a trick to lose weight without doing anything. What it does, and it's a lot, is help you feel less hungry and more satisfied with what you eat.
A classic study showed this well. When people's dietary protein was increased to cover 30% of their calories, without telling them to eat less, they ended up eating less on their own and lost weight (Weigle et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2005). No one purposely went hungry. Simply, with more protein, the body asked for less.
Where is this most noticeable in daily life? In impulsive snacking. With enough protein in main meals, the urge to grab something in the mid-afternoon naturally decreases, and this is where most people accumulate extra calories.
How to use it every day
The practical part is simpler than it seems. It's not about filling your plate with protein, but about putting a decent base of it in every meal, especially breakfast, which is where most people fall short.
At the table, with real food: eggs or an omelet in the morning. A natural yogurt with a handful of nuts. Fish, chicken, or legumes for lunch. Fresh cheese, quark, a good sandwich with ham. Nothing strange or expensive. Add its share to each meal and you'll reach the evening without uncontrolled hunger.
The shake, a tool for gaps
There are times of the day when preparing a proper meal isn't feasible. After training, in the mid-afternoon, a busy morning. Here, a protein shake helps, and I want to be clear about what it is: a convenient way to add protein when real food isn't available, not a substitute for eating well. A glass with a Catalan cream or horchata flavor fills you up, curbs your urge to snack between meals, and is pleasant to drink every day. For daily use, I recommend the 1500g format, which you always have on hand and won't run out in the first week.
In summary
Of all nutrients, protein is the most satiating: it shifts hunger hormones in your favor, digests slowly, and costs energy to process. It's not a miracle for weight loss, but it is one of the simplest tools for eating better without suffering from hunger. Put a base of it in every meal, start in the morning, and use the shake only for the gaps that real food cannot fill.
Gerard, founder.