The Shangri La Diet: Almost Like a Girl Group from the Sixties

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What if you were told that you can teach your brain to tell your body all new things? What would you tell your brain to pass along? Me? I would tell my brain to make my legs grow another four inches in the length department in a heartbeat, but that might be just me. What if you could tell your brain that the set point, or the weight that your body believes it should always strive to be at, can be lowered? What if you could retrain your brain, that mystical, mysterious gray glob inside your skull so that losing weight was not only an achievable goal, but one that is more easily arrived at? Would you think that you had died and gone to, well Shangri La? That is the entire premise behind this diet plan, which promises that you will never have hunger and that you can eat virtually anything that you want. The catch here, is this : part of the premise is teaching yourself not to want food.

The Brains Behind the Retrain Your Brain Theory
The Shangri La Diet was conceived and written by Seth Roberts Ph.D. He is a professor of psychology but not a nutrition, diet or obesity expert. His theory is that you can actually teach your body to want less food by regulating and lowering your set point. The key is in taste association- eating a variety of familiar foods that are very flavorful will tell the brain that it is hungry and it will send out the hunger troops which elevates the set point and you gain weight.

Eating foods without a lot of flavor or with unfamiliar or occasionally with bad flavors can lead the brain to get the message that you are starving, calling in the hunger troops and lowering the set point, allowing you to easily and quickly lose weight.

You can eat what you want, however there are rules to follow. There are no processed foods or foods that contain high fructose corn syrup at all. The key is to choose more wholesome foods over the poorer food choices we are pretty guilty of choosing.

After each meal, you will have either 1-3 Tablespoons of fructose water or 1-2 Tablespoons of extra light olive oil in water. You eat two small meals followed by the liquids and try to have unfamiliar foods so that you can lower the set point.

The Pros & Cons of the Shangri La Diet
Small meals are a bonus, because they are easier for the body to digest. The concept of using the body's set point as a reason for slowed or stalled weight loss can take some of the worry off of the dieter.

Dr. Roberts is not a weight loss expert, but a professor of psychology. While it might be trendy to suggest that you can retrain your brain to change the set point, there is no science to back the claim up, including a complete lack of studies or clinical trials.

Two small meals followed by rather odious liquids will not keep any one happy for the long term and the concept that you can teach your body to be "happy" on this limited number of calories is almost laughable. Can you also teach your body not to be unhealthy on the lack of nutrients? Can you wish away vitamin deficiency if you think about it really, really hard? This is not like learning statistics after all- your body needs what it needs and no amount of thinking on your part will change that basic elemental fact of life.

This is not a practical, living in the real world kind of diet because no one is going to carry around a small vial of olive oil and water to swig after a meal. It removes all of the food enjoyment which might be where part of the dubious success comes in - if you are going to loathe what you are eating, then why bother? (How many of us have sat staring glumly at a plate of Brussels sprouts after being told we cannot leave the table until they are gone?)

This plan also makes no mention at all of exercise - which might be a good thing because the food plan does not offer enough calories to make that a safe prospect either.

Interested in knowing more? The official website for the Shangri-La Diet is:
http://www.sethroberts.net

Additional resources for The Shangri La Diet