A comprehensive guide to diets and dieting, including essential information on body types and food lifestyles, plus an overview of all the main diets, from the Food Combining Diet to the Grapefruit Diet

New diet and exercise regimes are launched on the market every week, some of them making ever-more sensational claims - 'Eat what you like and lose a stone in a month!' There are some very successful weight-loss programmes available, as well as some downright dangerous ones.

Collins Gem Dieting will enable you to cut through the barrage of weight-loss information. Its unique charts will help you to identify your body type and choose a diet plan that best suits your metabolism, lifestyle and tastes.

The types of diet covered include Calorie counting, Dietary aids, Fasting and Liquid-only, Food combining, High fibre, High protein, Low fat, Mono-meal and Raw food versions. Well-known diets which are explained include Fit for Life, F-Plan, Rosemary Conley and the Scarsdale.

For each diet, the basic principles, encouraged and banned foods, sample menus and advice on short- and long-term effectiveness are clearly presented.

Collins Gem Dieting probably won't enable you to attain a supermodel figure, no matter how assiduously you diet. But by setting realistic goals, based on your body type, and moving steadily towards them, the information in this handy-sized guide will prove the best way to achieve a trim shape and maximize your health, energy and vitality at the same time.