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[Seth Roberts]

Nose-clipping eliminates the flavor of foods because it eliminates "retronasal stimulation":

Retronasal stimulation occurs during food ingestion, when volatile molecules released from the food in the mouth are pumped, by movements of the mouth, from the back of the oral cavity up through the nasopharynx to the olfactory epithelium. Orthonasal olfaction does not contribute to this sensation. Retronasal olfactory stimulation can be studied by introducing odour stimuli at the back of the mouth20 or by their release from ingested foods21. Marcel Proust vividly described how a tea-soaked madeleine brought back powerful childhood memories22, and this would have occurred primarily through the retronasal pathway. It is activated only when breathing out through the nose between mastications or swallowings23 (Fig. 2b). Because the molecules arise from the food in the mouth, they are referred to the mouth; that is, they are perceived as if they are sensed within the mouth24. This retronasal food-molecule-laden air is judged to be part of the 'taste' of the food25 and has been shown to be necessary for flavour identification26. Thus, although a large part of flavour is due to smell, it is attributed to 'taste', and is therefore almost entirely hidden from our conscious perception.

much more about smell and flavor:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/full/nature05405.html

[frenata]

Cool. Even knowing that most of taste is really smell, I was astonished by noseclipping. You don't believe it until you experience it.

[Seth Roberts]

it gets easier with practice, I've found. Sort of turns into brushing your teeth.

[Stephen M (Ethesis)]

Cool. Even knowing that most of taste is really smell, I was astonished by noseclipping. You don't believe it until you experience it.

What is amazing is the amount of flavor I notice immediately after noseclipping.

[Seth Roberts]

Cool. Even knowing that most of taste is really smell, I was astonished by noseclipping. You don't believe it until you experience it.

What is amazing is the amount of flavor I notice immediately after noseclipping.

flavor from the food you ate while nose-clipped? or from other foods?

[Nile]

I too noticed a lot of flavor just after a nose clipped smoothie ( if that is what Stephen means ) so I have had to rinse my mouth out will water before I take off the nose clips.  That works fairly well.  Also have found that drinking coffee around the time of the smoothie diminishes noticeably the AS effect.   I have started to drink water with meals to reduce the total flavor profile - seems to help.

[Heidi 555]

This quote explains why nose-clipping works but more in layperson’s language.  It’s from the book SEX SLEEP EAT DRINK DREAM: A Day in the Life of Your Body by Jennifer Ackerman (pp. 18-19):

“But coffee’s flavor – or any other flavor, for that matter – is mostly smell, about 75 percent in fact.  Slurp a little Sumatra and your tongue will tell you only that it’s bitter; that pleasant coffee taste, says Dana Small, is actually a pleasant odor pegged as taste because its perceived to be coming from the mouth.

Small and her colleagues at Yale University discovered that the brain has a special sensory system devoted to odors delivered through the mouth.  The team inserted small tubes into the noses of volunteers, one into the nostrils and one into the back of the throat.  Then they introduced four odors into one tube or the other and scanned the subjects’ brains using fMRI.  The team found that for food-related scents, the two different delivery routes engaged different brain regions – suggesting that the brain possesses at least two distinct olfactory subsystems, says Small, “one specialized for sensing objects at a distance and one for sensing objects in the mouth.”  The latter is activated only when we breathe out through the nose between chewing or swallowing.”

This explains why it’s helpful to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth for a few times after removing your nose clips.  The smell of food tends to linger in the nasal passages and this helps to clear it.  (TalkingRat first mentioned this tip to me, but I’ve seen others refer to it as well.) 

This also might be a reason why other odors aren't something to worry about. 

[VeganKitten]

Yes, this is the post I was referring to (above). Thanks for finding that!

[Venra]

I think one of the most helpful things to me is that when I eat a meal nose clipped I really, REALLY have to slow down, otherwise I won't be able to breathe!

This allows me to truly gauge if I'm full or not, if nose clipping isn't helping with AP, I don't mind just for the healthier eating time.

[beachbum]

I'm not sure that I'm understanding this correctly....does this mean that some of you eat a meal with noseclips?  And this contributes to AS or weight loss or both? 

[goblyn]

Yes, and yes to both!

[gardenvariety]

This answers my own questions about whether cooking during the 2 hour window would be a problem.  I understand now that it won't be.

[soooz]

Something I have just discovered - whilst preparing my ELOO in cottage cheese and just as I'm getting my nose-clip - I noticed that I would have automatically licked off the cottage cheese I had accidentally got on my finger!  How easy it would be to mess up that SLD window by a thing I'd usually do without a second thought!  might be worth watching out for!