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Comment and Health

Why the internet's CiCo calorie count diet won't keep weight off

An old dietary fad has got a fresh lease of life: Calories in-Calories out, or CiCo to its new devotees. It still doesn't add up, says Anthony Warner

By Anthony Warner

1 December 2017 Last updated 1 December 2017

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

I’ve earned that snack!

Image Source/Alamy Stock Photo

I have an instinctive distrust of anything with an acronym, so was dismayed to hear that the CiCo diet was spreading like wildfire across social media. Although it might sound like a tech start-up, CiCo stands for Calories in, Calories out and is far from innovative. It is based on the not-entirely-revolutionary principle that if you eat fewer calories than you burn, weight loss will ensue.

The seemingly attractive notion that you can eat whatever you want as long as you keep calories in check, plus anecdotal success stories, seems to…

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