final version of interview for SLD audiobook

Here is the final version of the audiobook interview that I recorded today with William Dufris, who did a great job improving the questions I wrote for him to read. To hear his improvements, you'll have to wait until the audio version becomes available, which should be in a few weeks. Thanks for all your really helpful comments.

QUESTION I'm talking with Dr. Seth Roberts, author of The Shangri-La Diet. Good morning, Dr. Roberts.

ANSWER Good morning.

QUESTION It's been three months since the book was published. What's happened that audiobook listeners might want to know?

ANSWER Well, it's strange. I've been learning about weight control for a long time. I started trying to lose weight myself sixteen years ago. The discovery that led to the book -- my experience in Paris -- was six years ago. You might think six years of experience would be enough to make the diet perfect, or close to perfect. At least for me. Well, no, not at all. In the past three months, since the book has been published, I have started to do the diet differently. And it's made a big difference -- not on my weight, which was fine, but on my sleep. My sleep has gotten better. I never thought that writing a diet book would improve my sleep, but that's what's happened.

QUESTION How did that happen?

ANSWER The most important thing since publication of the book has been growth of the forums at shangriladiet.com. These forums are an online community where people ask questions, answer questions, tell their progress, and give encouragement. It's a support group without the inconvenience, someone said. Right now there's about 10,000 posts and 1,000 members. If you have a question about the diet or a problem with the diet you should visit the forums and ask for help. It's very likely that someone knows the answer or has had a similar problem. The forums have lots of useful information about the diet that isn't in the book.

I've learned a lot from the forums. One thing I've learned is that the diet often has surprising positive side effects. One of these positive side effects is better sleep. Lots of people have reported this. I was fascinated by this side effect because that hadn't happened to me. My sleep didn't improve when I started the diet. I wanted to see how common this was so I posted a poll. It turned out that two-thirds of people drinking oil for the diet said their sleep had improved. Two-thirds! So better sleep wasn't just a surprising side effect, it was a common one. I wondered if the reason my sleep hadn't improved was because I mostly used extra-light olive oil, which is low in omega-three fatty acids. People think omega-three fatty acids affect the brain, which of course controls sleep. So I switched to walnut oil, which is high in omega-three, and also started taking 10 flax-seed oil capsules per day. Flaxseed oil is very high in omega-three.

When I did that, my sleep improved right away. And it has stayed improved. I'm getting the best sleep of my adult life. Every night when I go to bed, I know I'm going to wake up feeling really good. I'm not quite sure it's the omega-three that's causing the improvement because people have reported better sleep with olive oil, which has only a little omega-three. So I don't know exactly what causes the sleep improvement. But there it is -- it's a great side effect of the diet. And I think that any food that improves your sleep is likely to improve your brain in other ways. At the same time my sleep improved, so did my balance.

QUESTION What have been other positive side effects?

ANSWER Most of the positive side effects have come from drinking oil. As one person said, it turns out that fat is not poison. The oil is obviously good for your skin. Many people, including me, have gotten softer skin and hair. Several people have had skin problems, such as eczema, clear up. In some cases acne has improved. A few people have said the oil has made them more flexible, less stiff. A few people have said that being on the diet helped them quit smoking and quit drinking coffee. Omega-three is supposed to improve mood; maybe that's what's happening in those cases.

QUESTION Most people do the diet by drinking oil?

ANSWER Yes. If you do the sugar water, you need to drink it slowly. And the sugar water sometimes causes hunger. The oil is a lot faster because you don't have to drink it slowly. Sometimes the oil causes indigestion. If you have that problem, just reduce the dose for a few days to give your body time to get used to it. Your body may need time to make enough of the enzymes you need to digest the oil.

QUESTION But isn't it difficult to drink oil? When I tell people about this diet, and about drinking oil, sometimes they say "I couldn't do that."

ANSWER Yes, that's a common reaction. One good idea from the forums is that it helps to drink the oil with water. If you add enough water, it's more like drinking water than drinking oil. And the water reduces how much you can taste the oil, which is also good. Some people find it helps to add sugar to the oil/water mixture -- about 1 teaspoon of sugar for 1 tablespoon of oil.

Speaking of improvements, another improvement from the forums has been in what times of day to take the oil. Lots of people have good results taking it late at night, right before bedtime, and early in the morning. I myself have started taking the oil right before bedtime instead of during the day. I haven't seen any difference in my weight, but it's easier.

QUESTION Which oils are best?

ANSWER On the forums right now the favorite oils are extra-light olive oil, refined coconut oil, and refined walnut oil. But with more experience this might change. What is clearer is which oils are the worst. I did a poll asking about negative side effects. Half of those who used canola oil had some sort of problem. The other oils I asked about, which included olive oil, walnut oil, and coconut oil, caused fewer problems. So canola oil seems to be the worst.

QUESTION What have you learned about who the diet will help?

ANSWER When I wrote the book, I wasn't sure whether it would help people who suffer from emotional eating -- people who overeat when they get upset. But many people have posted that the diet has helped them with this problem. On the other side of the ledger, the diet doesn't seem to be much help to people who are thin and who exercise a lot. Some of these people have tried the diet because they feel hungry and think about food too much. If the diet helps them, its effects are subtle and take several weeks to become clear.

QUESTION That reminds me to ask: How long do the effects of the diet take to become apparent?

ANSWER In most cases, the appetite suppression becomes clear in a few days or a week. In a few cases, it can take much longer than that.

QUESTION What do other people say they have learned from the forums?

ANSWER Well, many things, some of which I've already gone over. One thing I haven't mentioned is a spirit of self-experimentation. Unlike most diets, the Shangri-la diet is not rigid. The forums are full of people talking about the variations they've tried -- how they switched oils, how they varied how they took the oil, many other variations. This is all very good; I think all this self-experimentation will eventually help everyone.

QUESTION What about the emotional effects of the diet?

ANSWER Yes, that's another big change since publication. If I wrote the book now I'd say much more about emotional effects. From reading the forums I've come to see that the emotional effects are very big and very important. Of course everyone is happy to lose weight. I felt that way. But there are two other effects of the diet that I didn't feel myself that are probably more important than just feeling happy. One is a feeling of control. Lots of people feel out of control around food. Not all the time, but often. They can't keep from eating junk food, they can't keep from eating chocolate, they can't keep themselves from finishing the whole package of cookies once they open it. They don't want to be this way, of course. The diet has given them control. They are able to eat the way they want to eat. Somebody said: "Now I see how normal people think about food."

The other big emotional effect is less guilt. It's bad enough being overweight; it's even worse being blamed for it. People who are overweight are told that it is their fault -- if only you would exercise more, eat less, et cetera, et cetera, you would be thin. It starts with parents, but it goes well beyond them. Nutrition experts and doctors say this sort of thing all the time. When this advice doesn't work -- and it almost never does -- the natural reaction is to think: What's wrong with me? It's really horrible. One effect of the Shangri-La diet is to make it clear that the reason the standard eat-less advice didn't work is that it was the wrong advice. There's nothing wrong with you -- it was the wrong advice. Just today, somebody doing the diet wrote in the forums: "It feels as if a great burden of guilt . . . has been lifted off me." Many people feel that way.

QUESTION Can you sum up what you've learned in a few words?

ANSWER Yes. First, don't be discouraged if the diet doesn't work quickly. Sometimes it can take weeks before the effects become clear. And don't be discouraged by plateaus. Just because you haven't lost weight for a month doesn't mean you aren't going to lose more weight.

Second, try different things. If you read the forums, you will see what a wide range of things have worked for other people. Different oils, different ways of taking the oil, and so on.

Third, if you have a problem or a question, go to the forums. Ask for help. Someone else has had the same problem or question as you. They will be happy to help you.

QUESTION I understand someone on the forums asked you how does it feel to have your book published, people trying the diet, and so on.

ANSWER Yes. That was a hard question to answer. Maybe it's obvious that I enjoy reading the forums, because people are thanking me. Of course I like being thanked. What's surprising is this: It never gets old. Both sides, the good and the bad. When I hear that the diet is working for someone, I think: oh, that's wonderful! I'm really really pleased. Like it was the first time. And when I hear the diet isn't working, I think: Oh no! And I'm not happy and I start wondering what might be going wrong. Lucky for me there's more good news than bad.

QUESTION Thank you.

ANSWER Thank you.