Seth Roberts' Shangri-La diet is a simple concept, one that follows the thinking that a person's weight is regulated by a "set point" system. Hunger is controlled by the body's relationship to its set point -- if a person's weight is below the set point, appetite is greater and more food is needed to satisfy that hunger. Roberts maintains it is possible to lower the body's set point so the appetite can be lessened and a person can lose weight.
Diet Strategy
By consuming a flavorless food that still has caloric content, the body's set point is lowered and less food is needed. The Shangri-La diet system simply has the user consume 100 to 400 calories of either sugar water or flavorless edible oil daily, either an hour before or after meals. There is no need to count calories or restrict intake of certain foods.
Fact or Fad?
In addition to the idea of the body having a set point, Roberts maintains an idea of taste calorie association, which means that tastier food creates stronger cravings for more food and increased appetite (and set point). Bland foods aren't as strongly craved and therefore will lower the body's set point. Research for the Shangri-La diet is unavailable, and Roberts' test subjects have been himself and a handful of friends and associates.
Set Point Theory
Roberts maintains that the body's metabolic system evolved from the Stone Age when humans went through varying periods of food availability (feast or famine). When food was plentiful, the body consumed greater quantities to fatten up for the next period of famine, resulting in a raised set point. When famine occurred, less food was consumed, and the body's set point lowered to compensate for lowered availability of food.
Taste Calorie Association
In Roberts' Shangri-La diet, the body associates taste with appetite. Typically the body reacts to a food's taste and the resulting input of energy with an increase in metabolism and a desire for more food, due to the positive stimulation of taste. The Shangri-La diet breaks the association between taste and calories in order to lower the body's set point. Roberts recommends three ways to disassociate calories and taste: consumption of calories with little or no taste, consumption of calories with an unfamiliar taste, and consumption of calories in foods the body is slower to detect. By taking in a small amount of calories in this form between meals, the body's set point can be lowered and weight loss is achieved.
Simplicity
The Shangri-La diet is certainly simple to follow. There haven't been any claims of rapid or sudden weight loss, and there isn't enough research available to support Roberts' theories. As with any diet, a combination of lifestyle change, healthy diet and exercise are key components for weight loss success. Any diet must be practiced consistently in order to work. As for whether the Shangri-La diet really works, it is too soon for conclusive results to be available.
Tags: Shangri-La diet, body point, body point lowered, consumption calories, lower body