At the Shangri-La Diet forums, several people are trying a new way to lose weight: Drinking a flavored calorie-free drink between and with meals. The first few weeks of experience suggest it works at least short-term. Here’s what Jenn does:
I am drinking about 1 1/2 to 2 litres of splenda sweetened kool-aid or iced tea/juice mix in water. You know those little packets that you add to a 2 cup water bottle. I have them with meals and then sip on them all day in-between. Sometimes I actually drink the whole bottle in a 1/2 hour (cause it tastes so good). I also add some olives and an occasional pickle to some of my meals and then if I want a little snack, I have a few of them between meals. This seems to really work too. . . . I never had that kind of AS [appetite suppression] or success with oils or SW.
Jenn has lost 6 pounds in a few weeks.
Why might this work (assuming my theory of weight control is true)? Flavor signals must linger in the brain because it takes several minutes (15 or more?) to get a some idea of how many calories a food contains. To forget the flavor in a few seconds wouldn’t work. If you eat a piece of ham and follow it with a sip of raspberry lemonade, the lemonade may reduce (erase) the memory of the ham flavor. This should have two effects: (a) reduce how much the ham flavor raises your set point and (b) reduce how much the ham flavor is associated with calories. You can think of the lemonade soaking up the associative energy that the ham calories produce. If the lemonade is also drunk (a lot) between meals, any lemonade-calorie association will disappear.
The interesting prediction: To get the effect, you must drink the calorie-free flavored drink with meals and between meals.
this may explain why smoking tends to reduce one’s weight. the taste of smoking reduces how much the flavor of the meal raises one’s set point; the taste of smoking may also reduces how much a meal’s flavor is associated with calories.
Smokers also indulge throughout the day. The reason people gain weight after quitting may be the reestablishment of the flavor calorie association.
Those smokers that want to quit should consider substituting a low calorie or no calorie taste to replace smoking. This may prevent them from gaining weight.
You may have something there. Michel Cabanac, however, has done some experiments that imply nicotine lowers the set point.
then one can take nicotine patches to augment the effect of sld or as a stand alone strategy.
I can’t believe this is true, because my experience disproves it.
For years, while I got heavier, and with no appetite suppression, I drank diet coke with nearly every meal and in between meals also.
I can’t believe I would be the only one to do this either. Currently, I have a friend that follows this same pattern, drinking Diet Coke both with and between meals, and his weight has gone up at least 20 pounds just over the last year.
The implication is not: if you do this, you will never gain weight.
The implication is: if you do this, you will weigh less than if you don’t do it.
In my experience, all sodas MAKE YOU GAIN WEIGHT, even the diet sodas. Because the acid in it makes you more hungry. My weight drastically reduced when I stopped drinking soda. Secondly, I never drink anything acidic. Pure fruit juices, especially organic ones, (sipped with a straw to avoid cavities) once in a while is good. I do drink coffee, latte, chai, or plain tea once in a while, mstly in the morning, (Kava coffee has reduced acid, and there are other brands). But predominantly I drink plain bottled water (usually Fiji water which has silica in it that’s good for your skin and hair). I learned that drinking water before I eat helps. I don’t drink water during or after the meal. Of course, I’ll sip water throughout the day to keep me hydrated and my energy levels up. But I feel that if I sip something while I’m eating, it’s flushing the flavor out of my mouth and then I end up wanting to bite more of the food. You want your taste buds to signal to the brain that they’ve had enough of eating this food now, bite after bite. And if I drink water after I’ve finished eating, I get hungry again soon after a little while. The water just flushes all that food down, and you’re hungry again. So, to feel full, I don’t drink during or right after a meal. I also notice not drinking or eating anything past 8pm or not eating anything for 12 hours after dinner until breakfast the next day, helps. Exercising one hour in the morning or one hour before going to bed or even both helps. I usually workout for a half hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. If I don’t have time in the morning, i’ll workout anywhere between 1 to 2 hours in the evening. However I do it, I make sure i get atleast a half hour of exercise a day, preferably running. I know if you’re a meat eater, eating meat helps to sustain hunger. So, I eat deli slices once in a while (preferably low sodium). If you are not a meat eater, then eat something with fiber to sustain your hunger. I noticed that going on a soup diet or eating as much soup as possible, helps to reduce the weight. Another thing, I avoid dairy at all costs. But that’s just me. if it doesn’t have sugar or fat, it’s got sodium. Even though I eat meat, I drink plenty of water and I make sure that I get most of my fiber in the morning. If I don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables or grains/breads, then I will take a fiber supplement in the morning, which actually helps to sustain my hunger. Or I’ll put tasteless, clear fiber powder in my bottled water or coffee or any drink. Inulin, which is found in some fiber, keeps blood sugar levels normal and sustains your hunger.