WHAT'S THE SCORE?

Faddy Diets

Summer's coming and with many blokes just as worried about how they'll look in their slim-fit speedos as any woman is about her bikini line, faddy diets are starting to get attention again.

WHAT'S THE SCORE?

Faddy Diets

Summer's coming and with many blokes just as worried about how they'll look in their slim-fit speedos as any woman is about her bikini line, faddy diets are starting to get attention again.

I'm on a seafood diet.

Me too. I see food and I eat it. Diets are for girls. There's no need so long as you eat sensibly and get a bit of exercise.

True unless, like you, your idea of a balanced meal is a kebab in each hand.

Slimmers shakes and lettuce are no meal for a man.

I'm talking about oily fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel, kipper and herrings. They're rich in omega oils and may protect against heart disease and cancer.

Recent research shows that a low-fat veggie diet is actually better than a 'regular' low-fat diet for reducing cholesterol but if you don't want to go the whole hog, simply replacing meat with good fish a couple of times a week would help most bloke's diets.

But I thought that meat-heavy diets were good. Like Atkin's.

Atkin's is a high-protein diet. Research suggests it may help short-term weight loss but is hard to keep up and, as most Atkins' dieters eat too much fat and saturated fat and not enough fruit and vegetable, it may well harm health.

Most faddy diets work in the same way — a quick, short-term benefit which is hard to sustain. That leads to yo-yo dieting.

Yo-yos? Doesn't the string get stuck in your throat?

Yo-yo dieting is lurching from one diet to another, often with a period of heavier eating in between. It may damage your immune system.

Simple substitutions occasionally like fish for meat, brown bread for white, fresh veg for tinned, jacket potatoes for chips are better than dramatic gestures.

We're all different and the perfect diet for me is not the perfect diet for you. But you can be sure that any diet that is solely about weight-loss is unhealthy. Nutrition is more important.

But the fishmonger is miles away.

The walk will do you good.

What's The Score? offers a lighter-hearted look at some of the hot health issues in today's media. Cartoon by Jeff Bucchino.