It’s really an excellent question that you ask: What is the difference between “rock solid appetite suppression”, where you cannot eat another bite, and merely keeping hunger at bay, where you could probably eat if tempted, but are fine not eating. I suspect that “rock solid AS” is most dependable when you have elevated levels of blood glucose or fatty acids in your bloodstream. This can come either from (1) actually eating a large meal, which causes insulin to rise and eventually suppress appetite once it reaches the appetite centers of your hypothalamus or (2) getting glucose or fatty acids into your bloodstream without raising insulin, by methods such as SLD. The second method is tricky because you have to find the fine balance between adding nutrients to your bloodsteam without provoking enough insulin to store those nutrients away and depleting the bloodstream, thereby triggering hunger. Thus the only surefire way to suppress appetite is to stuff yourself. SLD works only as long as brain doesn’t outwit it by becoming more sensitive to flavor or other cues.

I don’t think that sugar water is in principle different than oil so long as you can avoid even the trace of flavor. But even without flavor, if the amount of sugar ingested is too high, for some people it could elicit a postprandial insulin response and lead to a reactive drop in blood glucose. For others, sugar will raise blood glucose without triggering excess insulin, so it will keep you satiated. A lot depends upon individual variations in insulin response. The basic difference is that those who are insulin resistance are more vulnerable to having appetite triggered by excess glucose. SLD will typically work best on those who are more insulin sensitive, and those who have not developed a learned response to subtle flavors or cues that come along with the oil or sugar.

There is something different between the rock solid AS, and simply keeping hunger away. I can see how keeping blood sugar low and steady would suppress the appetite. I’ve done that before. But what is the key to that rock solid AS where you simply cannot eat another bite even if it’s your favorite food? Something that is not going to wear off with time. That is the holy grail.

LIke any diet SLD works better for some people than others. YMMV, as they say. Probably has to do with sensitivity to flavors. I do recall the “rock solid appetite suppression” of SLD. For me, it was a strong effect that kicked in from Day One. The Deconditioning Diet is different. It takes a few weeks to really notice a signficant difference, and the first 3 or 4 days can be tough. And you don’t get the rock solid AS, it’s more of a waning of appetite, with occasional weak hunger. But what I noticed most is that when you do eat, you get full much more quickly, and you are stuffed on half the amount it used to take.

Of course, I’m reporting my own experience and that of several others who’ve had the experience. But I do know one person who had less success with it, and whose hunger never really went away. Again– Your MIleage May Vary. You won’t know until you try it. But the greatest benefit of all is that if it works, you have made a permanent change to your appetite and eating habits, and it requires absolutely no special supplements, diet pills, oils, or special foods. All that has changed is YOU.

Todd

From having participated in the SLD forums for a few years, I recall that many people had the same experience as you: SLD worked like a charm the first time, but not so well for repeat attempts. Some folks attribute that to increased sensitivity to even subtle tastes in the oil. Many have been able to succeed by complete blocking the sense of smell using noseclips or just pinching your nose while taking the oil, being sure to rinse well with water to remove any residual taste before unblocking the nose. So you might try that.

My own view is that SLD is treating the symptoms, rather than the cause, of an overactive appetite. The oil or sugar water is rapidly supplying your bloodstream with fat or sugar to forestall an otherwise anticipated dip in fuel that would occur at normal meal times or in response to sensory cues. So you remain always dependent on this stealth dose of nutrients, which works so effectively because the lack of flavor keeps the hormonal insulin response to a minimum. But your body can still “learn” to expect the habitual dose of oil, even without the flavor, because there are other triggering cues associated with your “habit” of taking the oil. Thus, I think SLD is almost doomed to failure, unless you somehow keep the routine fresh by changing oils, times of day, social and environmental cues, or whatever. But the appetite center in your brain is pretty smart and will outwit you in the end.

That is precisely why I developed the Deconditioning Diet, which uses cue exposure and intermittent fasting to rewire the neural circuits in the appetite center of your brain that mediate between sensory cues and your digestive hormones and enzymes. Some may find the process bizarre, but by changing your brain, it gives long lasting appetite suppression! And you cease being dependent on taking some external substance like oil.

I never get hungry between meals anymore, and my appetite is half what it used to be, and I’ve kept off my 35 pound weight loss for more than a year now. You might consider trying it.

Todd

Your idea is not at all far-fetched. Heidi, one of the key contributors to the forum for this blog had precisely that idea and developed it into what she calls the Non-Addictive Food Diet. It involves “enlightened tasting” or chewing and spitting out favorite foods, as you suggest. Heidi has found it useful in deconditioning food addictions, which she believes are very specfic. Each type of food requires separate deconditioning, according to Heidi.

Take a look, I think you might find this interesting: http://forum.gettingstronger.org/index.php/topic,24.0.html

Todd

Just doing a math check here. For platinum calories, I advise about a tablespoon of an oil in your coffee or tea. A tablespoon of oil is about 15 grams or 120 calories. My experience is that 2 hot beverages a day is plenty. So that brings us to 240 platinum calories per day.

I’m not sure how Dave gets to 100-200 grams of fat in his coffee. That’s about 10 tablespoons of fat, which seems to be overkill. In fact, coconut or MCT oil tends to make me feel “wired” if I consume more than two tablespoons, so I’d be flying and perspiring with all that high octane stuff!

ASL is not involved in MCT oil metabolism. Coconut oil is not metabolized the same way as higher chain fats — it goes goes straight to the liver where is is oxidized and converted to energy. Those medium chain fatty acids will not end up in adipose tissue:

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