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Comment by nvusuvu | Hacker News Reader

I eliminated food cravings in perhaps an unorthodox method. It wasn't my intention, but I am better off for it I believe. I started with a 72 hour fast (water only). After that, I had a bite of a steamed carrot and the experience immediately after tasting the carrot was the biggest natural high of my life. It was like my brain dumped every pleasure producing chemical into my bloodstream. I started to focus on healthy veggies and fish/chicken with small servings of nuts and avocados. I lost 20 pounds (so far) and don't craze processed sugars like I have in the past. When you stop eating a lot of sugar, the gut biome bacteria chlamydia starves I think, and you are much healthy for it.

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> the gut biome bacteria chlamydia starves I think, and you are much healthy for it.

I believe you are thinking of candida which is a kind of yeast which is fungi not bacteria.

I think that you are correct. I have been on Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live diet a few times: start by eating no processed food and drastically reduce sugar intake unless it is berries or a little fruit. After about a week, the level of candida in your system is reduced to levels closer to what humans had > 50 years ago. At this point, all sorts of food cravings (especially deserts) go away, and homemade meals from natural ingredients taste very good. The first time I went on this diet, I felt 10 or 15 years younger with lots of energy.

This has been my experience. I have lots more energy and zero cravings and hungry pains are truly a thing of the past.

fungi are smarter and more meticulous than bacteria, so I’m willing to believe they could dictate our preferences

Yes, you are right. candida. Thanks for the correction.

Eliminating sugars or salt will make you realize just how overly sweet and salty most food that isn't prepared at home is.

It’s wild to me how heavy cream tastes sweet after you acclimate to a low sugar diet. It has something like 1g of sugar for every 12g of fat (if I remember from the label)

And attempting to eliminate sugars shows you just how ridiculously difficult it is to avoid it in the US.

Like, why is there extra sugar in my bread?

Gotta eat your foot long subway cake.

Especially on a budget. It's very hard to find cheap food that isn't full of added sugar

I think I did this too, but in reverse! Unfortunately I couldn’t get to the store fast enough after my 72 hour fast, and my stomach hurt so bad that I ended up eating a Chalupa. Then I gained 60 pounds. Oops.

At least you inspired the weird Pavlovian Taco Bell ad campaign. So that's nice.

Similarly, I have found that every time I severely limit carbs for a solid 3-4 days my appetite flatlines instead of rapidly rising and falling throughout the day. And everything starts to taste better. And I have way less gas.

> And I have way less gas.

Sounds like you have a gluten intolerance.

Not sure if it's comparable but at some point I couldn't eat anything but raw veggies and after a while my brain started to sense finer taste and flavour in stupid lettuces or tomatoes. Made me realize the modern diet is so filled with supplements (fat, sugar and salt apparently) that it hides everything subtle and blinds you into seeking addictive unhealthy meals.

I had a similar experience when we introduced our child to solids - we all ate the same meal so obviously added sugar and salt were out of the question.

Within two weeks I started experiencing flavours that I previously had no idea were there - especially rice has a different taste initially than after it's chewed.

I used to eat those instant ramen noodles every other day. Now I can't stand the salt content.

Dunno if you care or not since they're still not healthy (just starch basically, but, instant ramen without the 'flavor' packet has all sorts of great ways of preparing it. Budget Bytes has some excellent suggestions - https://www.budgetbytes.com/?s=ramen

I was telling people that the carrot tasted like candy to me and they looked at me like I had lost my mind.

You should try some baked vegetables, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower in the oven with a little avocado or grape seed oil and a little balsamic to finish.

The carrots will taste like candy.

The balsamic usually has a lot of sugar in it. If I was trying to reset my sugar cravings I would avoid the balsamic.

I just checked the last balsamic I used, it is 45 calories (10g of sugar, 5g of which is added) per 15mL. While there is more sugar than I expected, I used 1 table spoon or 15mL for a full baking sheet of vegetables. You are right about resetting sugar cravings and to watch out for sugar sneaking into your diet. I find lots of foods at Trader Joe's have more salt and sugar than I would expect.

Starches like rice will taste different if you allow saliva to work on them - your saliva contains enzymes which break down starches into sugars. This is commonly demonstrated in middle school science classes by having kids chew a saltine cracker, and taste how it starts out bland and ends up tasting sweet as you hold it in your mouth.

Honestly that never worked for me. Maybe I was too impatient.

I don't think salt is bad for you.

Actually anjoying food is, somewhat paradoxically, a great way to control weight.

Watch fat people eat. It's like they are trying to maximise calorie intake. Food is shovelled in. Bites are taken before the previous one is even swallowed. They don't really enjoy the taste of the food, they just want the feeling of hunger to go away as quickly as possible.

Watch how French people eat. It's not about survival, it's about enjoyment. Each bite is savoured. Time is taken to appreciate the food. It's one of the most important times of the day.

French people eat like they're making love. Fat people eat like they're jacking off to porn to deal with the daily urges.

Needs citation.

It's just my observation. Look and see for yourself.

But, quite honestly, there's no way anyone is getting fat unless they are shovelling food into their mouth.

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