I suppose the thing that sorta put me off a bit about this was their use of Atkins, Ornish, and to a lesser extent LEARN and Zone. Atkins and Ornish for 95% of the population aren't realistically going to be permanent diets. I can't really say anything about the LEARN diet, because I'm not familiar with it, but I'd imagine that it's a bit more sustainable than the Ornish. The Zone diet...is at least a somewhat reasonable approach to restricted carb intake, so I'd call it something that is more likely to be long term than Atkins.

I think that this kind of test could be something that could help someone create an ideal diet based on what their body will respond to best, but even if you're best off with something low in "processed" carbs, that doesn't mean you should go on atkins, but rather I'd take that to mean you should be eating whole grains in place of processed sugars, syrups, and flours (which, lets be honest....everyone would be better off following this anyways). So I'd say that on this part we're basically on the same page....that it will inevitably get interpreted wrong (and just judging by this article the company may be helping foster this incorrect interpretation by suggesting things like the Atkins diet to people that take their test).

As far as my statement about the diet industry, I wasn't necessarily referring to supplements, but I would include them to a certain extent. Many of the studies and information put out there regarding certain supplements is based upon shaky science, poorly conducted experiments, and the results are proven wrong so often that any supplement that promises anything that isn't "this has vitamins in it" is likely an exaggeration, or a flat out lie (Chromium Picolinate comes to mind). I do think that there are some supplements out there that will benefit the people that take them, but there are also a lot that just end up making expensive pee. As you said, supplements should be something that is taken in conjunction with exercise, and the goal of them should be to correct some deficiency that the person may have. If they don't tend to get enough of ....whatever from natural sources, then the supplements should be taken to make sure they're getting what they need.

On a more broad level, my statement about the weight loss industry was really referring to the million diets and weight loss pills that are out there, all claiming to be the new revolutionary way to lose weight without putting any effort forth other than eating a certain food, or taking a special pill. It's all bollocks and does nothing to address the reasons why people become overweight and in need of dieting in the first place. Some of these things will work in the short term, like Nutri-system, but the problem is...when the packages of food stop coming and you've lost all this weight...then what happens? You go back to stuffing your face with all the foods that made you fat in the first place and get right back to where you were before.

In addition to all that, how often can you say you've heard someone talk about the "miraculous" weight loss properties of one food or another. Steel cut oats come to mind for me...there is this belief out there that the steel cut oats are this amazing weight loss food because they're a whole oat, and that they do a billion amazing things for you. Sure, they're good for you, but you know what they are? Oatmeal that is cut with a knife instead of pressed between a couple stones. Either way you cut it you're eating whole oats, oatmeal is simply faster to cook. You'll get the exact same benefit out of a bowl of oatmeal that you will from a bowl of steel cut oats.....but the misinformation is still out there, and still fostered by a group of companies who have a vested interest in keeping their profits up on their "superfood."

Realistically speaking the only "diet" programs that I've seen that I can give credit to for being based upon not only losing weight, but also reforming the way you eat are programs like Weight Watchers, where the goal is to teach yourself portion control, while encouraging exercise. Most of the rest of the stuff out there is just a short term fix that does nothing but get people to sink a ton of money into the program, and then once they've lost the weight they gain it back and end up doing some other program, or some other diet, or something. It's a self sustaining machine that gets results for people in the short term, but almost never does anything for them in the long term.

I mean...the whole industry is based upon the idea that losing weight and keeping it off is incredibly hard. But the truth is, that losing weight is as simple as eating less and moving around more. Keeping it off is as simple as teaching yourself what made you fat in the first place, and practicing not doing those things until they become habit.

I warned you that I could go off on a long rant about the entire industry. The scary thing is that this is still me holding back a bit.

TLDR: I hate all the misinformation about foods, weight loss products, and diets a lot.