Satiety Per Calorie Calculator

About the Satiety Per Calorie Score

This score is rooted in Dr. Ted Naiman’s Satiety Per Calorie framework — the follow-up to The PE Diet. The premise: foods that fill you up cheapest are dense in protein, fiber, and water — and light on energy density.

The Formula

We normalize every component to a 100g basis, then weight protein and fiber heavily, water lightly, and divide by energy density:

score = (protein_per_100g × 2 + fiber_per_100g × 2 + water_per_100g × 0.05)
        ÷ max(1, calories_per_100g ÷ 100)

The score is rounded to one decimal place. Bands:

• High satiety— score ≥ 6 (most vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy)
• Medium satiety— score 3–6 (mixed meals, whole grains, fruit)
• Low satiety— score < 3 (oils, sweets, processed snacks, nuts)

To go from a single score to a daily diet, the PE Diet Calculator is the matching tool from Naiman’s first book.

Protein carries the most weight in the formula because it is the most filling macronutrient per calorie — which is also why a higher-protein diet tends to reduce hunger on the same calories. For how much of it to aim for in a day, see how much protein per day.

If you only want that part of the picture — how much protein a food buys you per calorie, with no fiber or water in the mix — the Protein-to-Calorie Ratio Calculator scores it on its own.

Zero-calorie drinks never make this map at all, because they buy no fullness through food — a point that trips people up with black coffee, whose appetite effect is real but small: is coffee good for weight loss? covers where the caffeine helps and where the milk and syrup quietly don’t.