Leading health scientist Claire MacEvilly said that celebrity endorsement of every new craze only serves to mislead the overweight.

She singled out the Atkins, South Beach and GI diets, warning, “There is virtually no science behind any of these things.” MacEvilly, of the Medical Research Council, told the British Association Festival of Science in Dublin, “People need to be getting their advice from a GP or nutritionist, not a celebrity-endorsed book...”