But my mother’s story, like Sam’s, like everyone’s, didn’t have to turn out like this. For 60 years, doctors and researchers have known two things that could have improved, or even saved, millions of lives. The first is that diets do not work. Not just paleo or Atkins or Weight Watchers or Goop, but all diets. Since 1959, research has shown that 95 to 98 percent of attempts to lose weight fail and that two-thirds of dieters gain back more than they lost

Oh wow, that's crazy. When I lost >100 lbs over the course of a year doing keto and carefully tracking my caloric intake (with very little exercise) it must have been the fat fairy that was actually making me lose weight.