Diet cults : the surprising fallacy at the core of nutrition fads and a guide to healthy eating for the rest of us

Summary: From the raw food movement to Atkins, an ever-increasing number of health and weight-loss diets are engaged in an overheated struggle for new converts. Paleo Diet advocates tell us that all foods less than 12,000 years old are the enemy. Vegans demonize animal foods. Then there are the low-fat prophets and supplement devotees. But underneath such differences, author Fitzgerald observes, these disparate groups all agree on one thing: that there is only "One True Way" to eat. The first clue that this is untrue is the sheer variety of diets. Indeed, while all of these competing "diet cults" claim to be backed by science, a good look at actual nutritional science suggests that there is no single best way to eat. What makes us human is our ability to eat--and enjoy--a wide variety of foods. The appeal of diet cults is their power to offer a food-based identity to latch onto--yet many more of us are turned off by their arbitrary rules. Fitzgerald offers an alternative: an "agnostic," reasonable approach to healthy eating that is flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of personal preferences and lifestyles.--From publisher description.