When people eating a high-protein diet skip their planned meal and choose something with less protein, they tend to eat about 260 more calories that day.

From 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 · study

See the scientific wording

In adults consuming a high-protein diet under ad-libitum conditions, a single self-selected meal with lower protein content is associated with a mean increase of 262 kcal in same-day caloric intake, suggesting macronutrient composition of a single meal may influence overall daily energy consumption.

Supporting

Moderate

1 study

Correlational — new studies may shift this

Observational

One moderate-quality study links this claim to the outcome, but causation is not established.

What the research says

1 study reviewed

Supporting (1)

Moderate

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 StudyHuman2023
When people on a high-protein diet ate one meal with less protein than usual, they ended up eating about 262 more calories that day—even though they didn’t feel hungrier. This suggests what’s in a single meal can change how much you eat overall.

Contradicting (0)

None

No contradicting studies found yet

That doesn't mean it's settled — it just means no study has tested the opposite.

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Score breakdown, mechanism chain, raw evidence, ideal studies needed & 1 supporting study

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When people eating a high-protein diet skip their planned meal and choose something with less protein, they tend to eat about 260 more calories that day.

What the research says

Supporting (1)

Contradicting (0)

The fitness and health internet is full of confident claims. We check them against real research.

When people eating a high-protein diet skip their planned meal and choose something with less protein, they tend to eat about 260 more calories that day.

Claim Context

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Contradicting (0)

Score Breakdown

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

When people eat a meal with less protein than usual, they tend to eat more total calories that day — and this pattern holds up even when accounting for other factors.

What you eat in one meal matters more for how many calories you eat that day than how hungry or full you feel.

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.

The day after eating a meal with less protein than usual, people tend to eat about 60 fewer calories than normal.

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

When people eating a high-protein diet skip their planned meal and choose something with less protein, they tend to eat about 260 more calories that day.

What the research says

Supporting (1)

Contradicting (0)

The fitness and health internet is full of confident claims. We check them against real research.

When people eating a high-protein diet skip their planned meal and choose something with less protein, they tend to eat about 260 more calories that day.

Claim Context

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Contradicting (0)

Score Breakdown

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

Related Claims

When people eat a meal with less protein than usual, they tend to eat more total calories that day — and this pattern holds up even when accounting for other factors.

What you eat in one meal matters more for how many calories you eat that day than how hungry or full you feel.

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.

The day after eating a meal with less protein than usual, people tend to eat about 60 fewer calories than normal.

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