The Next New Diet Craze

Several months ago we talked about declining interest in the Atkins low-carb diet (here and here). This week, the company that markets the Atkins diet plan declared bankruptcy... unofficially writing the epitaph to the low-carb trend.

So what's next? With so many Americans wanting to lose weight, the vacuum in diet fads isn't likely to last for long. Some have suggested revived interest in low-fat diets (especially those that cut out trans fats), high-protein regimens, or ones based on the glycemic index, used to monitor diabetes and heart disease.

Some have suggested that dieters lost interest in Atkins when they got tired of sacrificing carbs. That may be true, but any diet worth its salt (pun intended) imposes restrictions of some sort. Sorry, but we can't "eat all we want and lose weight without exercise" any more than we can flap our arms and hope to fly. Eating less and exercising more -- as unsexy as it is -- are the essential ingredients to any viable weight-loss program.