Like all becoming-a-bit-overweight carnivores I have been fascinated by the possibility of the Atkins diet. Until, that is, I watched the recent TV drama about the life of Henry VIII in which he seemed to become more and more spherical as he aged despite following a rigorous Atkins regime of subsisting on lumps of meat. He cheated a bit on the booze of course as all right-thinking dieters must but it does cast doubt on the whole idea.

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