There actually is no such thing as the Kolata Diet. The reference is to Gina Kolata, the controversial science writer for "The New York Times." Kolata has written extensively about dieting and the diet industry in recent years. She is the author of "Rethinking Thin," a 2006 book that concludes that dieting is largely a waste of time for most people. Expect Kolata, with her unorthodox views, to be a major voice in the debate about eating, dieting, health and obesity in the years to come.
Background
Gina Kolata majored in microbiology and holds a master's degree in applied mathematics from the University of Maryland. She also studied molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1974, she became a writer at "Science" magazine. In 1987 she moved to the science beat at "The New York Times." Her sister was the noted environmental activist Judi Bari.
Controversy
Kolata's supporters portray her as a fearless scientist who goes precisely where the evidence leads her. She has won numerous awards for her reporting. It is certainly hard to pigeonhole Kolata. In 1980, ACT UP called her the "worst AIDS reporter in America." Her reporting downplaying the environmental impact on breast cancer led some to accuse her of carrying water for the chemical industry.
Dieting
In the case of the weight loss industry, Kolata attacks it vigorously. Kolata argues that most popular diets have shown no record of success. Weight loss is hard. If you lose weight on a stringent diet, it is likely to be regained once you stop the diet. Kolata believes that heredity determines a relatively narrow range of "normal" weight for each of us.
Research
Kolata makes much of a two-year clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania comparing the high-protein and high-fat Atkins diet against a traditional low-calorie and low-fat diet. While the Atkins diet came out on top, Kolata focuses on the fact that the average participant on the Atkins diet lost only 10 lbs. In her book, Kolata concludes that being fat is something people have little control over.
Obesity
Emily Bazelon, who reviewed "Rethinking Thin" for the Sunday Book Review of the "The New York Times," critiques Kolata for "flirting with an unlikely conclusion: Maybe the outcry over obesity itself is supersized, and being fat isn't really unhealthy after all." But the skyrocketing surge of obesity in America, especially among children, is hard to shrug off. Bazelon does align herself with Kolata in believing "that we should replace the elusive goal of thinness with the goal of better health and greater happiness...Sure, shape up your body. But mostly, make peace with it."
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