Perspective | Weight-loss diets boil down to one thing, and it's not science jargon - The Washington Post

Here’s what I think: It’s a way to eat less, cloaked in a sciency explanation of why the particular combination of foods being prescribed works metabolic magic.

If the diet just says, “Eliminate high-carb foods and you’ll end up eating less,” well, that book wouldn’t sell many copies.

So each diet guru latches onto some piece of human metabolism and decides that it’s the key to health and weight loss — but really, it’s just the toenail.

Because, after we peel back the sciency stuff, there are usually some pretty decent strategies for doing that thing that’s at the heart of weight loss — eating less.

To lose weight, you don’t have to understand the nitty-gritty of human metabolism; diet isn’t a knowing problem.

So think of the onslaught of crank diets as a smorgasbord of strategies, and pick and choose the ones that can fit your lifestyle.