Fad diets and "functional foods" that claim to improve health are a waste of time and money, according to the State's leading obesity specialist.
Dr Donal O'Shea, who runs the obesity clinic at Loughlinstown hospital, described the Atkins diet as "useless" and another popular weight loss programme, Lipotrim, as "a disaster".
He said functional foods did not add any health benefits over and above those provided by a balanced diet.
He was speaking yesterday at the launch of new nutrition guidelines from the Irish Heart Foundation, which reaffirm the standard advice that eating a wide variety of fresh foods, including lots of fruit, vegetables, fish and wholegrain food while consuming less fat, sugar and salt is the best approach for remaining healthy and at the correct weight.
Functional foods are one of the fastest growing sectors in food manufacturing; they include products containing probiotics, omega-3 fat and plant sterols.
However, the IHF guidelines says the effects of probiotics on heart disease are insufficiently substantiated.
While plant sterols reduce cholesterol in those on an average diet, they may not work in those already on a low-fat diet and long-term effects on heart disease "remain to be shown". Functional foods may enhance food but are not a "magic bullet" for poor health behaviour, the guidelines say.
Fad diets can undermine people's health, cause physical discomfort and lead to disappointment when people regain weight afterwards.
"Often when people regain the weight, they overshoot and end up back in my clinic," commented Dr O'Shea.
Exactly two years after the Government's taskforce on obesity issued its report, few of its recommendations have been implemented, he said.
While the Department of Health was trying hard to do its bit, it had no funding and other departments were doing nothing. "The reason for this is that there is no high-level government commitment to tackling obesity."
Maureen Mulvihill, IHF health promotion manager, warned that recent falls in heart disease rates could be reversed if the obesity problem was not tackled.
