[sunjain]

I must say this is one of the best articles I have seen on obesity. This clearly lays out how psychology plays more important roles in obesity than merely focusing on diet/exercise. I had come to the same conclusion after trying different diets but the author lays out a very scientific explanation of how it works. One thing very important pointed out by the author is this: more you try to lose weight by controlling diet and/or exercise, more it activates your hunger drive. Instead just have some middle of the road guidelines(not too much carb, not too little fat, no calorie counting) and use this guideline to eat till you feel satiated(more you control yourself thru willpower, more it activates your hunger drive). As more and more people get confused by the contradictory recommendations, flip-flops in results of different type of diets, eventually the psychological aspect, as laid out by the author, will get more attention. Hopefully.

[mattmanser]

He himself explicitly says that his methodology was NOT scientific because of sample size of 1.

It's all wild speculation on his part wrapped up in speculative scientific language.

Maybe he is right, but your reaction is precisely what we need to stop doing.

[thewopr]

Maybe. But the author of the article at least does make it fairly clear what he's arguing for. Not that his diet is the perfect one, but that we need far more research into the hunger drive, not the chemistry of food and sustenance.

While many scientists would scoff at him making this argument outside of the scholarly journal orbit, it's actually a pretty good place to do it. Many scientists I know read broadly, and many decision makers at funding organizations are looking for ideas and perspectives wherever they find them, not just in journals. Especially as, in most journals, this would have gotten promptly rejected as the "study" wasn't scientific. But the point is made and shouldn't be ignored (IMHO).