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Lipstick on a pork rind

A new study based on an n of 22 people followed for only one month is likely to cause a great deal of confusion to the increasingly large N of people looking for a miracle cure for obesity.

The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, coins the term "the eco-Atkins" diet. It claims that a calorie-restricted vegetarian diet high in plant fat and protein and low in refined carbohydrates reduces cholesterol levels and leads to weight loss. I know. That's pretty ground-breaking stuff. Decreasing the number of calories you eat, and cutting out animal-based fats, means becoming leaner and healthier? But isn't that what most dieticians have been telling us for quite some time? Just without the catchy nickname I am sure will appear in an infomercial near you within the next few weeks.

I am not alone in my skepticism of the effective of asking fast food - addicted North Americans to embrace a meatless and healthier diet simply by dressing up vegetarianism as the newest magic bullet weightloss fad. Dean Ornish, President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, likens it to "putting lipstick on a pork rind".

I realise that some people believe that to sell health to a continent of people raised on television and Kraft Dinner requires marketing. I, however, believe more lasting results could be seen through education and infrastructure. Public service announcements and flashy spokescharacters just aren't cutting it, particularly since they resort to passive media to convey their message. If the medium is the message, why are we relying on television and the internet to make our children more active?