Healthy Food Choices for the Shangri-La Diet

Video Transcript

MICHELLE COOPER: Next, we're going to talk about the Shangri-La diet. This diet is based on the theory that our body weight has a set point and if we go below that set point or that set point weight that we'll become hungry and eat more. What they proposed to counteract this is to drink or consume 100 to 400 calories of your diet everyday in the form of sugar water or a tasteless oil like the extra-virgin olive oil you see behind me. The theory is that by consuming the sugar water which is bland or the extra-virgin olive oil in between or before each meal that when your body weight does go below the set point you won't be hungry. This will keep you full. This diet doesn't focus on the fact that this extra fat can contribute to an elevated LDL or cholesterol level, or that all the sugar water could increase your triglycerides or worse than diabetes if you have a preexisting condition. So when analyzing this diet and looking at the four factors: one, is this the style of eating that can be sustained for a long period of time? No, not without some detrimental health effects. Two, is it a reasonable rate of weight loss? Well, they don't really talk about any rate of weight loss. Three, is exercise encouraged? No exercise is encouraged, just weight loss. And number four, does it exclude food groups? It doesn't exclude food groups but it's an awful lot of fat and sugar that can wreak havoc on your arteries, your blood cholesterol and your diabetes. Therefore, I don't recommend this diet.