Fat is Genetic, from NY Times science writer (and sister of Judi Bari) Gina Kolata.
posted by serazin on Jun 19, 2007 - 126 comments

An exotic West African berry, known as miracle fruit, has gained a cult following by radically changing the way things taste: it eliminates sourness, making lemons taste like lemonade and limes like candy. Despite a long history of cultivation, the FDA has not approved the fruit or miraculin, the protein that causes its odd effects. In Japan, where it has been intensely studied, the fruit is served at cafes to help dieters.
posted by blahblahblah on Feb 6, 2007 - 34 comments

Have you given up on the Atkins Diet? Tired of miracle diet pills that don't work? Maybe you, like many other Americans, can find dietary salvation in the Bible. Try the Hallelujah Diet®. It's a primarily vegan diet that's "Biblically Based. Scientifically Validated. Personally Evidenced." Unless of course, it's actually dangerous quackery, or worse, heresy. Maybe you're better off with the Maker's Diet, "based on Biblical precepts and scientific resources". Uh oh.
posted by casu marzu on Mar 21, 2005 - 26 comments

Why did your last diet fail? If you're over thirty, over-stressed and overweight... take a look in the mirror. You've got excess fat around your waste hips and belly, right? Well diet failure is not your fault!

Surprise surprise... Relacore's representative isn't a real dietician! Who cares about that though... at least she's not as nauseating as Dr. Greg Cynaumon.
posted by catchmurray on Feb 8, 2005 - 54 comments

The life and death of a supersized man. Walter Hudson was fat. Precisely how fat was impossible to determine, because the one time he agreed to be weighed on an industrial-strength scale, it broke. (Maybe it was something he ate?) But no one denies that Hudson was one of the most obese people of the modern era (note: pictures not safe before lunch). Former comic, erstwhile diet guru, civil rights activist and Michael Jackson proponent Dick Gregory was one of Hudson's many exploiters, but Hudson's agoraphobic existence sounds almost beatific.
posted by digaman on Sep 18, 2004 - 24 comments

Extending your life, how to age well. The Seattle Times is running a week long series of articles on how to extend your life. One of the most interesting ideas is calorie restrictive diets. The basic idea is that you consume approximately 30% less calories than you need, and you will live a 30% longer lifespan. The Calorie Restriction Society website can answer any questions you have. Of course any plan that has problems like "Getting used to looking gaunt" and "How do I stop waking up from hunger" seems a little iffy to me.
posted by patrickje on Nov 13, 2003 - 32 comments

"Live Large, Live Free!" Freedom Paradise is a new Mexican resort catering to large-size visiters. "There are a lot of people who put off vacations, saying, 'I'll buy that bikini when I lose 15 pounds.' We say, why wait to lose weight, when you can enjoy life now?"
posted by ferociouskitty on Jun 8, 2003 - 16 comments

This is the true story of what happens... when seven strangers... are picked to live in a house and have their lives taped... to see what happens when people stop being polite fat and start being real skinny. America's obsession with weight loss continues on ABC. It's the anti-Fat Project.
posted by hijinx on Oct 31, 2000 - 7 comments