Food scores
The Satiety Score
How filling a food is per calorie, scored 0–100 from protein, fiber, energy density and palatability.
The Satiety Score rates a food from 0 to 100 on how filling it is per calorie. It weighs four things: protein at 35%, fiber at 20%, energy density at 25%, and palatability at 20%.
The four components
- Protein — share of calories from protein. Protein is the most satiating macronutrient per calorie, and half your calories from protein scores full marks.
- Fiber — grams per calorie. Fiber adds bulk and slows digestion without contributing usable energy.
- Energy density — calories per gram. Food at or below 0.6 kcal/g scores 100; at or above 4.0 it scores zero. This is the volumetrics idea: physically filling your stomach for fewer calories.
- Palatability — starts at 100 and subtracts for fat-and-sugar combinations, sugar above 20% of calories, and sodium density. These are the things engineered to make food easy to keep eating.
Bands
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
0–33 | Low satiety — easy to overeat |
34–66 | Moderate satiety |
67–100 | High satiety — hard to overeat |
Liquids
Anything measured in milliliters or fluid ounces has its final score multiplied by 0.7, because drinking calories is markedly less filling than eating them. A caloric drink also gets no credit for low energy density — otherwise a sugary drink would score well simply for being mostly water.
A low score doesn't mean a food is bad. Olive oil and nuts score low because they're energy dense, and both are nutritionally valuable. The score answers one narrow question: how much fullness am I getting for these calories?
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