Ever since James Hilton’s novel „Lost Horizon“ was published in 1933, Shangri La has become a metaphor for paradise on earth. In Hilton’s novel Shangri La is a mystical, harmonious valley in the Himalaya, a place of eternal happiness, isolated from the outside world. As in the modern Western world there seems to be a longing for all the ‚exotic’ things coming from Asia, it isn’t surprising, that many marketers try to sell their products by giving them exotic sounding names.

Therefore, on first hearing about it, Roberts’ Shangri-La diet seemed to be just one more so called ‚magic’ diet that is out for people’s money and is otherwise not worth the paper it is written on. But, what exactly is the Shangri-La diet?

What Is The Shangri-La Diet?

The Shangri-La diet apparently is the result of fifteen years of self-experimentation by professor Seth Roberts. He obtained his theory by studying our ancestors and finding what he calls „taste-association“. He claims that eating many different flavors signalled an abundance of food and prompted the body to store more calories in preparation for scarcity. He found a direct correlation between the plentitude of flavors in our modern food and fat storage. He therefore concluded that eating tasteless food will send signals to the body to reduce calorie intake.

What Is The Shangri-La Theory?

The Shangri-La theory of taste-association is linked to the set point theory which says that a person’s natural weight is set at birth, like eye or hair color, and that there is not much anyone can do about it. With the Shangri-La diet, not only calories are reduced, but the set point is influenced and the metabolic rate is increased which helps the body burn more calories. In order to lower one’s set point, one should eat tasteless food and should cut down on tasty food as this increases one’s set point in making the body store fat. The Shangri-La diet works best with non-processed or low glycemic index food. With this kind of food, carbohydrates are slowly released into the bloodstream and the feeling of fullness lasts longer. Prof. Roberts also advises to drink large amounts of plain water which further helps to manipulate the body’s set point.

What Is The Shangri-La Method?

The Shangri-La method seeks to dissacoiate calories from taste. Roberts found that taking small amounts of tasteless calories between meals, helped to give the body the illusion of being full. In his fifteen years of self-experimentation he finally found that taking one or two tablespoons of canola or a light olive oil an hour before meals and, additionally, drinking six tablespoons of sugar diluted in one liter of water a day, helped him lose weight. With this method Roberts claims to have lost 35 pounds in just three months.

Does The Shangri-La Diet Work?

For those who don’t mind taking pure oil and have nothing against tasteless food, the Shangri-La diet sounds like an easy, uncomplicated way of losing weight. However, there are still too many questions open and research will be needed to answer them. For instance, it isn’t clear how the Shangri-La diet’s unnatural calorie restriction may affect the metabolism in our body and how much the additional amount of sugar will negatively affect our bones and teeth. However, just recently the American Physiological Society apparently confirmed Prof. Roberts theory. In 2006 they published the findings of a study on pine nut oil as an effectful appetite suppressant. So, despite its ‚exotic’ name, the Shangri-La diet may be worth a try.

But even if the Shangri-La diet works, for those of us who simply enjoy the taste of good food, the Shangri-La diet doesn’t seem all that attractive, anyway.

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