Bizarre Diet Works Wonders in Study of One

Don’t try this at home. Or perhaps, only try this at home. It’s a health and dietary regimen that starts each day with one hour of TV, specifically life-size talking heads, includes a few tablespoons of canola oil (straight up) and several ounces of sugar water, and beyond that any amount of any food desired. What’s it good for? For Seth Roberts, a psych professor at UC Berkeley, it was good for a loss of 40 unwanted pounds, a sustained weight of 160,  the elimination sleep problems and the appearance of a man ten years younger than his actual age.The New York Times gives us Roberts’ story, written by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt, authors of the popular
“Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of
Everything.” What’s interesting–as distinct from strange–about Roberts’ regimen is that is was devised by Roberts himself, who basically turned his body and his life into a study subject. Roberts’ diet, the Times reports, is based on the theory that since cave man days the body has responded to certain dietary flavor signals, agents that tell it to either save calories or burn them.  After experimenting with several agents, Roberts found that unflavored oil and sugar water could effectively “set his thermostat” at the level he desired. Read more.