Diet fashions come and go, driven by the latest diet guru! In the 1970s the F-Plan Diet was all the rage. I followed it myself, and loved it. It was all about filling up on dietary fibre to eat less calories yet still feel satisfied. I added bran to every meal. My husband got pretty annoyed with me, especially when he had to ask to go to the toilet in the middle of a very important college exam!
It's a lot of fun trying out a new diet book. Everything makes so much sense, and if we do manage to lose some weight, we can get very attached to the diet; the author takes on a guru- like status, and people have been known to come to (verbal) blows in social media (lol).
But, as always, beware. Things might not be as simple as the book would make it appear. The book may seem to be impeccably science-based, and quote lots of research studies; but every real scientist knows that for every research study that supports a dieting method, there is another that doesn't.
Sometimes that's because the various researchers are not comparing like with like. For instance, a "low-carb" diet (a diet where the carb intake is 50 grams per day or less) can cover an infinite number of food choices and combinations, some of them with a lot of fat or meat, others with very little. Some consisting only of whole-foods, others allowing sugar and refined flour. Dieters in research studies may be incorporating factors from other dieting methods unknown to the researchers, such as skipping breakfast, avoiding gluten, or taking dietary supplements. Some will exercise more than others. Some will eat the same number of low calories every day, while others will have "binge" days that boost their metabolism.
So beware. An author wants to sell you a single "new" idea and will pick the research studies that fit that idea. Some of those studies may not even have used humans! Test animals like rats and mice are not equivalent to humans, and are simply not meant to be applied to us. If there are no human studies to back up the author's claims, it means that scientists didn't think the idea would work on humans.
For advice on choosing the best diet, whether you want to lose weight, improve your heart and artery health, or combat a health problem, please see Linda’s E-book How To Choose The Best Diet. Or the print version (less well illustrated). Linda also has a highly-rated video course: Foundations of Modern Naturopathy.