The bottomless barrel of advice

The world is awash with diet plans, many with exotic names and all offering advice on how to keep trim, fit and healthy. Among them are detox, Dr Atkins, Dukan, grapefruit, Israeli Army and South Beach, and the list goes on and on. Here are half a dozen that are prevalent on Chinese-language websites:

The apple diet: Eat apples and nothing else, except water, for about three days. The method is based on claims that apples are good at "squeezing out" water and fat, and as well as providing enough nutrients to keep the body healthy.

The 21-day diet plan: There are three phases. During the first three days, dieters eat nothing. For the following eight days they live on limited quantities of fruit and vegetables, and in the last phase they can eat regular food, but only at 60 percent satiety, and are not allowed to eat for the five hours before going to bed.