Manipulating the mind to alter the shape of the body

THIS past week, Atkins Nutritionals filed for bankruptcy protection, partly in response to the chronic fickleness of fat people. The overweight will try anything to get thin, but never stick at any one regimen for very long.

There’s always a better fad coming up the line, directly behind the current one.

Atkins caught on in the wealthy ’90s, when dieters could afford to eat beef, prawns, bacon, eggs and cream. It had an unprecedented impact on economies and on patterns of agriculture. Grain farmers and bakers hated it and paid publicists to emphasise the fact that Atkins reputedly gave bad breath and traumatised the liver and kidneys with dense proteins and fats.