Eating a meal you choose yourself makes you eat more that day and a little less the next day — but then you go back to normal.

Scientific Claim

In adults on a long-term high-protein ad-libitum feeding study, the effect of a single self-selected meal on daily caloric intake is not sustained beyond the next day, with intake returning to baseline levels.

Original Statement

“On the SSM day, the mean ± SD daily caloric intake increased by 262 ± 332 kcal [...] The following day there was a slight but significant reduction in intake (−58 ± 85 kcal, P = 0.008) [...] with no change in appetite scores.”

From study:Self-selected meal composition alters the relationship between same-day caloric intake and appetite scores in humans during a long-term ad-libitum feeding study

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

definitive

Can make definitive causal claims

Assessment Explanation

The claim describes observed temporal patterns in intake data without implying causation or mechanism, consistent with the study design.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Self-selected meal composition alters the relationship between same-day caloric intake and appetite scores in humans during a long-term ad-libitum feeding study

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2023 Mar

After eating a meal of their choice, people ate more that day, but then ate a little less the next day, bringing their total calories back to normal—so the extra eating didn’t last.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Self-selected meal composition alters the relationship between same-day caloric intake and appetite scores in humans during a long-term ad-libitum feeding study

Score: 51

DOI: 10.1007/s00394-022-03040-5

Similar Assertions

People on a high-protein diet usually pick one meal a week to eat whatever they want — and when they do, they eat more that day but don’t feel any hungrier or fuller than usual.

92%

How full or hungry people feel doesn’t explain why they eat more or less after choosing their own meal.

90%

When people on a high-protein diet eat a meal they choose themselves, their total calories go up — but they don’t feel any different in hunger or fullness.

89%

Eating a meal with less protein makes you eat more calories — but not because you’re hungrier. Something else about the meal is making you eat more.

89%

Even when people eat more or less than usual because they chose a different meal, they don’t feel hungrier or fuller than normal.

88%