What is a satiety score?

A satiety score estimates how filling a food is relative to the calories it costs, on a scale of 0 to 100. Food Loops calculates it from four weighted components: protein as a share of calories (35%), fiber per calorie (20%), energy density in calories per gram (25%), and a palatability component that penalises fat-plus-sugar combinations, heavy sugar, and heavy sodium (20%). Scores of 0–33 are low satiety, 34–66 moderate, and 67–100 high.

Why do liquid calories score so low?

Liquids are less satiating than the same nutrition eaten as solid food, so the model multiplies the final score of any food measured in milliliters or fluid ounces by 0.7. A caloric drink also gets no credit for low energy density: without that rule, a sugary drink would score well simply for being mostly water.

What makes a food filling?

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient per calorie, fiber adds bulk and slows digestion without adding usable calories, and low energy density means a food physically fills your stomach for fewer calories. Working against all three is palatability: foods combining fat and sugar, or carrying heavy sugar or salt, are engineered to be easy to keep eating and override normal fullness signals.

Is a low satiety score bad?

No. Satiety measures how filling a food is per calorie, not how nutritious or healthy it is. Olive oil and nuts score low because they are energy dense, yet both are nutritionally valuable. The score is useful for deciding what to eat more of when you are trying to stay full within a calorie target, not for labelling foods good or bad.

Free calculator

Satiety Score Calculator

Name: Food Loops
Author: Food Loops

Two foods with the same calories can leave you completely differently. This scores any food 0–100 on how filling it is per calorie — the same model Food Loops shows on every food you log.

Start from a food, or enter your own numbers:

Per serving

Serving size

Unit

Calories

Protein

Carbs

Fat

Fiber

Sugar

Sodium

/ 100

High Satiety

Very filling for the calories. Hard to overeat.

Score Breakdown

Weighted components

Protein35% of total

100 / 100

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient per calorie.

Fiber20% of total

0 / 100

Fiber adds bulk and slows digestion without adding calories.

Energy density25% of total

69 / 100

Calories per gram. Food that fills your stomach for fewer calories wins.

Palatability20% of total

96 / 100

Fat-plus-sugar, heavy sugar, and heavy salt override fullness signals.

Satiety Score

71 / 100

Energy density

1.65 kcal/g

Percentages are the weight each component carries in the final score, not a share of any daily allowance.

How this is calculated

Four components, weighted and summed. Each is scored 0–100 on its own before the weights are applied:

Protein, 35%. Share of calories from protein. Half your calories from protein scores 100.
Fiber, 20%. Grams per calorie. Thirty grams per 1,000 calories scores 100.
Energy density, 25%. Calories per gram. At or below 0.6 scores 100; at or above 4.0 scores zero.
Palatability, 20%. Starts at 100 and subtracts for fat-and-carb or fat-and-sugar overlap, for sugar above 20% of calories, and for sodium density.

A food measured in milliliters or fluid ounces is treated as a liquid: its energy density score is capped and the total is multiplied by 0.7.

The result of an AI photo scan: a grilled chicken Caesar salad identified automatically, with 540 calories, 48g protein, 22g carbs and 26g fat already filled in.

Every food you log gets scored

You don't have to look anything up. Photograph a meal or scan a barcode and Food Loops attaches a satiety score alongside the macros, so the pattern in what actually keeps you full becomes visible over a few weeks.

Read the guide →

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Not medical advice. These calculators are for information and education only. The formulas are population estimates and cannot account for your individual circumstances. Talk to a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, particularly if you have a medical condition or are pregnant. See the full disclaimer.