by Chris Kaiser ?
In some circles, Seth Roberts, Ph.D., is noted for using himself as the subject of his experiments. In “real” science, however, self-experimentation is considered disreputable, which could be a reason why you’re not part of the circle that has heard of Dr. Roberts.
The fruit of his latest self-experimentation is the Shangri-La Diet. Shangri-La is the name of a fictional Himalayan community of great peace and tranquility. Roberts said he chose this name because the diet “puts people at peace with their food.”
“Within days after starting it, all sorts of food-related struggles, including constant thoughts about food, usually go away,” said Roberts, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley.
So, what is this diet? It’s remarkably simple and involves drinking certain amounts of either plain sugar water or extra-light olive oil, according to the book. Ever the self-experimenter, however, Roberts told me that he has switched from olive oil to flax seed oil, which works just as well. He prefers the flax seed oil because it also has lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which are required for the health of almost all body systems.
The crux of Roberts’ theory revolves around the body’s set point for weight. The body weight set point is similar to a thermostat in a room. Just as you can adjust the set temperature of a room (adjust its set point), the body’s set point is adjustable as well.
If the body weight set point is at 210 lbs., for example, no amount of conventional dieting will keep pounds off because the body will want to “balance” itself by reaching its original set point. You must lower the body weight set point to 180 lbs., for example, in order for the body to feel balanced, or set, at that weight.
“It is nearly impossible to weigh much less than your set point for a long time, the hunger becomes unbearable,” said Roberts who maintains an interesting blog?and message boards.??
The way you lower your body weight set point is by eating “zero set point” foods, such as sugar water or near flavorless olive oil (and now flax seed oil). These are foods that contain calories, the body’s source of energy, without flavor.
The more flavorful a particular food, the more the body associates it with calories, and the more we eat. This weight regulation system is an evolutionary design that enabled our forbears (those with prominent sagittal crests and protruding brow ridges) to eat abundantly when food was scarce, storing the excess as fat.?
But we of smooth cranium and plucked brows live in entirely different conditions than did our hairy ancestors. We can eat excess calories every hour if we want-and often do, which thus raises our set point.
By emphasizing zero set point foods, the Shangi-La diet tricks your system into thinking food is scarce, thus lowering your set point. With a lower set point, you feel fuller sooner than you would otherwise.
The level of your set point depends on everything you’ve eaten for the last several months. Some foods are high set point foods (junk food). If you eat only these foods, your set point will be high, requiring extra caloric intake to feel satiated.
Some are low set point foods (raw veggies). Eat them and your set point will be low. Others are in between (whole wheat bread). Set point depends on the average of what you have eaten for several months.
By raising or lowering your set point, every food controls how much you eat later. By itself, a one pound box of chocolates can increase your weight by no more than one pound. But if it raises your set point 10 pounds, it will cause you to eat more of other foods, enough to raise your weight 10 pounds. Your body always wants your weight to match your set point.
I highly recommend trying this simple diet. Roberts is an unassuming scientist. He peppers the book with references to nutritional research dating back to the 1950s. He serves on the editorial advisory board of the journal Nutrition and his work has appeared in major scientific journals such as The Lancet and Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Is the Shangri-La diet just another weird fad preying on people’s hopes and fears? Roberts seems to have anticipated this question. In the book, he quotes the Danish quantum physicist Niels Bohr remarking to a young scientist: “We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question that divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct.”
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