EVERY year, at least one new diet book captures the fancy of the American public, a large segment of which is overweight and miserable about it. "Fad" diets often zoom to the top of the best-seller lists, despite the fact that they are usually scientifically unsound and potentially dangerous. In most instances, the author is promoted as an authority on weight loss who has discovered a new, revolutionary, and easy solution to obesity.
Unfortunately, there are no simple solutions, as legitimate obesity experts know all too well. The only way to lose excess fat is to burn more calories than you take in—often an onerous and protracted process. The diet books keep selling because the public keeps hoping for some miraculous cure.
The most recent rage has been The Beverly Hills Diet,1 which suffers from many of the same ills as previous books of its type. Its author is