I had to dig this out of the way back machine as it's kind of interesting and I thought I remembered something about this being talked about here last year.
Yesterday I came across some studies about smell, taste, and hunger. One thing led to another and I ran across something about the Shangri-La Diet. The premise is that we get inundated with the same smells and tastes over and over to the point that when we smell any familiar foods, our brain sends the signals to the body that it's time to eat. Very Pavlovian, since almost all modern foods center around salt, fat, and sugar, when you smell or taste just about anything familiar, you brain signals insulin, leptin, etc and the body prepares for massive quantities of food. When the fat cells and the brain begin talking to each other about food, you can just about forget any kind of will power or self control. At that point you are at the mercy of chemistry. Much of what people eat today has programmed their bodies and brains to overreact. When your body smells or tastes food it prepares for the worst rather than dealing with what you feed it. Your brain expects massive calories associated with super-sized this or that with huge desserts, cookies, potato chips, etc from years of eating the SAD. So if you go on a diet, your brain and fat cells still expect large quantities and don't think you're full, even after you've eaten. So you will tend to over eat until your brain and fat cells think you're done. This is the premise of the Shangri-la Diet. Not sure if I buy it fully, but some studies seem to show that there is a Pavlovian effect to eating.
So to "fix" this, they take in 300-500 calories of something with no smell- usually in the form of light olive oil mixed in water -an hour before eating. this turns off the communication between the fat cells and the brain and you no longer feel hungry. The cells have been mechanically activated by the oil and they are happy and they stop telling your brain that you're hungry. An hour later you go to eat and really have not much of an appetite. The whole program just makes it easy to eat small amounts for those of us with huge appetites.
Anyway, I thought it was a neat theory, so last night I went home and drank the oil and water, went out and mowed the grass and came inside and fixed dinner. I had a sheet of nori, a can of sardines, and 3 hard boiled eggs with some lemon Polar seltzer water and WAS NOT EVEN INTERESTED IN EATING FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!!!!
Just in case it was a fluke, I'm going to try it again tonight. Sometimes I can eat small quantities one night, but the next day I'm ravenous. Tonight I'll have the oil and water, wait and hour, and then have the same meal as I had last night and see if I'm not hungry afterward. I'll report back tomorrow on how I feel. Wish me luck!
-Rick
--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, de Vie <de_vie@...> wrote:
>
> Do any of you have personal experience with "The Shangri-La Diet"? This
> could be done at the same time as Fast-5, and alternatively the author (not
> referencing Fast-5 though) said he ends up usually eating one meal a day as
> a result (i.e. the two are potentially complementary/in-sync). The main
> idea of it is to add high-quality flavorless (or nose-clipped) oil
> IN-BETWEEN meals/flavors - or once a day - and that this easily reduces
> appetite. It's really fascinating.
>
> . . . de Vie . . .
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