The overwhelming consensus led to a diabetes type 2 and obesity epidemic. Curious that when this consensus was absent, it wasn't nearly that much of a problem, but only started to become a huge giant problem once consensus was reached. Coincidence? Totally.
Well, no, bad eating habits and people with poor self-control led to a diabetes type 2 and obesity epidemic. (I'm not saying I have awesome self-control - it's a work in progress, but I'm not going to blame external factors when I'm the single largest determinator of what I put into my body).
Sigh.
I get sick of reading this, that people think it's some grand conspiracy, or that big corporations are poisoning you. Look, for most people (read - you, me and most people around us) - it really does boil down to self control. Eat less food, and exercise more.
I'm always amazed by the portion sizes I get when I go out. And then when I don't shovel down food like my friends, they're like, "What's wrong? Are you sick? You should go see a doctor".
I'm like, no...err, I'm just full?
Yes, I have moments of weakness and I have my vices (liquorice...yummy), but if you just cut down on food in general, and the sugar and processed stuff, you will lose weight. I went from around 75kg to 68kg that way - sure, I suppose I could go lower, but I don't think I could maintain that level of self-control 24/7...haha.
And another poster is right - a lot of the success of these fad diets is probably just due to people being conscious of what you eat - which they're normally not. The fact they're dieting probably means they realise exactly how much they're eating, and consciously or not, cut down on it.
You either refuse to trust Health Canada, USDA, British Nutritional Foundation, NHMRC and so on (including all bureaucrats and scientists),
or you study chemistry and biology, medicine and nutrition,
or you accept the overwhelming consensus.