I’m not actually sure that the diet, as you’ve written it, would work even if the theory were complete. You say that an association is formed between flavor X and calories and that association with X controls the set point. But why would X be the dominant factor, when you’re already eating flavors A, B, through to W whose contribution to the set point got you to the weight you started at? Does the book elaborate on how the association works?
Yes the strength of the association is cumulative.
So if you eat highly flavored food that is high in calories, your set point goes up (think junk food). if you eat calories with little or no flavor, your set point goes down. Effectively your brain is trying to work out “is there lots of high calorie food around?” Part of the mechanism is the food/calories association.
In the book he points to a fair number of pieces of evidence that point to this conclusion. And it explains a few things that are otherwise surprising Eg why is diet soda fattening (answer: you consume it at MacDonalds with high calorie foods and it adds to the associative power of the junk food meal by adding flavor). Eg why did my wife lose a lot of weight when she injured her nose and lost her sense of smell for a while (answer: her flavor/calorie associative mechanism broke). Why are high calorie hyperpalatable standardized foods so addictive: because they create super-strong associations. Lots more....
Obviously there are some missing pieces to the puzzle: Eg why does it fail with some people?
Also he is a psychologist and misunderstands some aspects of food metabolism. For example, he says fructose is “low glycemic index” and therefore takes a while to be absorbed into your blood as glucose. In fact, generally, fructose (and the fructose component of table sugar) is not turned into glucose at all. It is usually metabolised into fats by the liver. Only when your liver is depleted of glycogen is it used to replenish the liver’s glycogen, which can be turned into glucose.
I’m not actually sure that the diet, as you’ve written it, would work even if the theory were complete. You say that an association is formed between flavor X and calories and that association with X controls the set point. But why would X be the dominant factor, when you’re already eating flavors A, B, through to W whose contribution to the set point got you to the weight you started at? Does the book elaborate on how the association works?
Yes the strength of the association is cumulative.
So if you eat highly flavored food that is high in calories, your set point goes up (think junk food). if you eat calories with little or no flavor, your set point goes down. Effectively your brain is trying to work out “is there lots of high calorie food around?” Part of the mechanism is the food/calories association.
In the book he points to a fair number of pieces of evidence that point to this conclusion. And it explains a few things that are otherwise surprising Eg why is diet soda fattening (answer: you consume it at MacDonalds with high calorie foods and it adds to the associative power of the junk food meal by adding flavor). Eg why did my wife lose a lot of weight when she injured her nose and lost her sense of smell for a while (answer: her flavor/calorie associative mechanism broke). Why are high calorie hyperpalatable standardized foods so addictive: because they create super-strong associations. Lots more....
Obviously there are some missing pieces to the puzzle: Eg why does it fail with some people?
Also he is a psychologist and misunderstands some aspects of food metabolism. For example, he says fructose is “low glycemic index” and therefore takes a while to be absorbed into your blood as glucose. In fact, generally, fructose (and the fructose component of table sugar) is not turned into glucose at all. It is usually metabolised into fats by the liver. Only when your liver is depleted of glycogen is it used to replenish the liver’s glycogen, which can be turned into glucose.