Precautions
According to Roberts, diabetics should not use
the sugar water option but take only oil if they follow
the Shangri-la diet. In addition, people should not use
strong-flavored oils, such as ordinary olive oil orflax-
seedoil, because the flavors in those oils will prevent
breaking the brain’s association between flavor and
calorie intake.
Roberts also warns that individual body chemistry
seems to affect the time it takes the Shangri-la diet to have
an effect on the dieter’s appetite. Some people apparently
feel a difference within a few hours of their first dose of
flavorless oil, others take several days, and some may
require three weeks to notice a change in appetite.Risks
There do not seem to be any major risks to health
associated with the Shangri-la diet, provided that the
dieter consumes an appropriate balance of nutrients,
vitamins,andminerals; and consults a physician
beforehand to exclude the possibility of a previously
undiagnosed serious health condition.Research and general acceptance
One of the major criticisms of the Shangri-la diet
is its lack of pre-publication clinical testing on a group
of subjects. John Ford, an assistant professor of med-
icine who is highly skeptical of Roberts’s claims, notes
that Roberts, himself a scholar, should have had more
academic integrity. In an online article published in
May 2006, shortly after the first press run of Roberts’s
book, Ford said, ‘‘... the scientific method exists for a
reason: to root out poor hypotheses and to direct
research towards those more likely to be fruitful. IfRoberts were truly interested in investigating his
approach, he should have subjected it to the dispas-
sionate rigor of clinical study and peer review. His
hypothesis is clearly testable with a controlled trial
by a careful scientist willing to be proven wrong if
necessary. That hasn’t happened. Presenting a highly
speculative idea as proven science to an audience
unlikely to appreciate the difference between an aca-
demic psychologist dabbling in this field and seasoned
experts who have devoted their careers to it is mislead-
ing at best....’’
Ford goes on to point out that the published
article that Roberts has posted on his website is not
about the Shangri-la diet but rather a speculative essay
about self-experimentation as a way to generate ideas
for further exploration. Self-experimentation is not
necessarily inappropriate as a technique in medicine
or nutrition; a recent book on the history of medical
self-experimentation devotes a full chapter to physi-
cians who risked their lives testing the role of vitamins
in preventing scurvy and other diseases by subjecting
themselves to diets lacking these vitamins. The ques-
tion, however, is whether the results of Roberts’s self-
experiment with weight control can be generalized to
other overweight people. As of early 2007, no articles
about the effectiveness of or risks associated with the
Shangri-la diet have appeared in any peer-reviewed
medical or nutrition journal. In addition, the diet has
not been endorsed by the American Dietetic Associa-
tion (ADA) or any other professional nutritionists’
association. It has, however, been featured in such
popular magazines asWoman’s World.
One researcher in the field of appetite and taste,
however, has been quoted as saying that Roberts’s theory
about the human mind’s association of food flavor with
calorie intake is open to question. Dr. Mark Friedman, a
physiologist at the MonellChemical Senses Center in
Philadelphia, an independent institute that collaborates
on research projects with the University of Pennsylvania,
commentedinaninterviewwiththeDallas Morning
Newsthat ‘‘The idea that the taste of food can set food
intake and the calories you eat over the long term is an
idea that has no scientific evidence.’’ Friedman allows
that research done at Monelldoes indicate that people
tend to like safe, familiar foodsand thereby learn certain
food preferences. ‘‘But that doesn’t mean you’ll overeat.’’Resources
BOOKS
Altman, Lawrence K., MD.Who Goes First? The Story of
Self-Experimentation in Medicine, especially Chapter
11, ‘‘Dietary Deprivations.’’ Berkeley, CA: University
of California Press, 1998.QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR
DOCTOR Do you know of anyone who has tried the
Shangri-la diet? Were they able to lose weight
and keep it off?
What do you think of the author’s theories about
human evolution and appetite underlying the
diet?
Do you see any significant potential health risks
associated with such an unusual diet?
Would you recommend this diet to any of your
patients who needs to lose more than
30 pounds?Shangri-la diet