Talk about gut issues. Check out the bestseller counter at your local bookstore. I'll bet my month's supply of statins that the majority will be related to diets. Advice on how to grow thin is the fastest growing industry in the world. It is also the most confusing and contradictory. The other day, among the artery-clogging goodies on display at an upmarket delicatessen, was a packet alluringly stamped "Diet Chocolate". Hello! It's enough to put you off food for life. Which is what the blizzard of conflicting information on dieting and weight reduction is seemingly aimed at. Are eggs good or bad? Is it low carb or high carb? The contradictions would be amusing were the issues not so serious.

For decades, weight watchers were told that the secret of weight loss meant low-fat foods. Then, Robert Atkins set the pig among the truffles with his high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet plan. According to him, the road to weight loss was paved with bacon cheeseburgers, just lay off the buns. The Atkins regimen was in total contradiction to the overwhelming majority of research on healthy weight loss but another diet guru was born. And died. Even today, the debate over whether he was right or wrong continues to rage, as millions switch to the General Motors or South Beach Diet or whatever makes it to the New York Times bestseller list.

The truth is that too many weight-loss plans are based on, pardon the pun, half-baked research. Studies show that restrictive diets that eliminate several foods or food groups have the worst failure rates over time. Unfortunately, many of us, caught in the mind trap of calorie counts and weighing-scale paranoia, fall for the latest research, hoping, yet again, to beat the odds. The problem is that all diet plans are geared to make you lose weight in the short term, so you happily think you've found the secret of healthy life, never mind the anorexia.

The bottom line is that the diet craze feeds on itself: everyone with a medical degree is desperate to rush into print with a diet book that catches popular fancy and expands their bank balance. As the weight loss industry continues to expand and prosper, there's only one question you should be asking yourself: Is there too much fad in your diet?

"Only fools can say my ministry has no power"

Union home minister Shivraj Patil spoke to Editor Prabhu Chawla on his portfolio, POTA and politics.

Q. Why did Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh make you home minister?
A. You should ask them this question. If I say I'm not qualified, it will be improper. And if I say I am quite fit for this august office, it will amount to self-aggrandisement.

Q. But you were in the race for the prime minister's post.
A. The newspapers said it. But the facts are different.

Q. It is said the Home Ministry is a high-profile post, but its power is limited.
A. Only foolish people can say such things. Don't you think the ministry has both power and responsibility?

Q. But you can't be held responsible for what happens in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh as law and order is a state subject.
A. Agreed, but when something becomes a national issue, it becomes the responsibility of the home minister.

Q. Which is the best state in terms of law and order?
A. I'll not give a certificate to any state. You know well which state is facing terrorism. We should pay more attention to those states. Modernisation of police is necessary. The problem of terrorism is more important than law and order.

Q. Which is more dangerous: foreign terrorism or economic terrorism?
A. The disease within the body is more dangerous.

Q. So People's War is more dangerous than let or Jaish.
A. No. At present foreign terrorism is more dangerous.

Q. What are your plans to check terrorism?
A. We can talk and persuade people to shun the path of terror. We will try to check terrorism through the economic package. And with the help of law, we can stop it.

Q. Your government had promulgated TADA and MISA. So why are you opposing POTA? Is it because of politics?
A. Those who brought in POTA were against such laws earlier. This is being used to settle personal scores against political rivals. Therefore, we will abolish it as soon as possible.

Q. Will you ban the organisations banned under POTA?
A. We will see what can be done.

Q. Moulvi Abbas Ansari of the Hurriyat Conference says you are not senior enough to talk to him.
A. I will not become big or small after his remarks.

Q. How will you solve the Bangladeshi immigrants issue?
A. Someone coming here to earn his livelihood is different from someone who comes with arms.