Method / what was tested
Read the index as an experiment, not a food scorecard.
The design standardized energy, not serving weight. A Satiety Index of 200 means roughly twice the measured two-hour satiety response of white bread for the same test energy.
01 · STANDARDIZE
1000 kJ portions
Each food was portioned to the same energy: 1000 kJ, described by the authors as 240 kcal.
02 · FASTED TEST
Morning sessions
Participants arrived after an overnight fast and consumed one test food with water.
03 · RATE SATIETY
Every 15 minutes
Subjective satiety was recorded for 120 minutes and summarized as area under the response curve.
04 · NORMALIZE
White bread = 100
Scores were expressed relative to white bread tested in the same subject group.
323Potato SI
The outlier was boiled potato.Ling fish (225), porridge (209), oranges (202), apples (197), and brown pasta (188) also ranked well above the white-bread reference.
Results / compare foods
More food mass often traveled with more satiety.
The charts separate two questions: who ranked highest, and how measured satiety related to the calorie density implied by each equal-energy serving.
Highest Satiety Index scores
Top 12 foods.
Satiety vs. calorie density
Derived density = 239 kcal ÷ test serving grams × 100.
+0.64water ↗ SI
+0.46fibre ↗ SI
+0.37protein ↗ SI
−0.43fat ↘ SI
−0.64palatability ↘ SI
These are the paper's reported associations within this small set of foods. They do not establish that changing one nutrient will cause a predictable change in satiety.
Data / every test food
All 38 foods, with the calorie math added.
The paper reports nutrient amounts per 1000 kJ test portion. The added kcal / 100 g column is derived from the reported test serving mass using 1000 kJ = 239.0 kcal.
| Food | Category | SI | Test portion g | kcal / test | kcal / 100g | Protein g | Fat g | Sugars g | Starch g | Fibre g | Water g |
|---|
* 1000 kJ = 239.0 kcal. The 1995 paper describes the portions as 240 kcal. Formulations and preparation methods may differ from modern products.
Apply / equal-calorie swaps
Hold calories steady. Change the food.
The study's equal-energy design makes this comparison unusually direct: every option below stays near 239 kcal while showing how serving mass and measured satiety differed.
Apply / meal prep
Turn the food data into a prep batch.
This planner is an arithmetic extension, not a tested result of the paper. Choose a daily calorie target, prep duration, and food-selection goal; portions scale from the 1000 kJ composition data.
Prep batch totals
Planner note: the experiment tested individual foods in short laboratory sessions, not mixed meals or long-term diets. This is a meal-prep scaffold based on the paper's food data, not individualized nutrition or medical advice.
Interpretation / boundaries
Useful signal. Narrow experiment.
The Satiety Index asks a valuable practical question, but it does not turn one 1995 laboratory ranking into a complete theory of eating.
Reasonable takeaways
- Equal calories produced very different short-term satiety responses.
- In this dataset, water, fibre and protein tended to associate positively with SI.
- Food mass varied dramatically at the same energy, from 38 g peanuts to 625 g oranges.
- White bread is a relative reference, not a universal threshold of “good” or “bad.”
Important limits
- Most foods were tested by only 11–13 healthy subjects within a food-group panel.
- Satiety was tracked for two hours after one food, not across full days or mixed meals.
- Products and preparation methods reflect 1990s Australian foods; modern formulations can differ.
- SI does not measure micronutrient quality, long-term health outcomes or individual tolerance.
Source: Holt SHA, Brand Miller JC, Petocz P, Farmakalidis E. “A satiety index of common foods.” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1995;49:675–690.