The CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) is Australia’s national science agency and a government research organisation. So, when the CSIRO develops a diet, we can assume it’s an evidence-based plan that has been shown to produce results. However, the CSIRO diet has had its critics.

Launched in 2005 in book form, the CSIRO diet or, to give it its full name, the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, is a high-protein, low-GI eating plan that, they say “…helps you drop the kilos by reducing cravings and keeping you feeling fuller for longer. Combined with proven weight loss tools to help improve habits and create lifelong positive behaviours“. Claims for the diet include better appetite control, improved metabolism and greater fat loss instead of muscle loss. It was developed as a result of research on weight loss conducted by the organisation’s Health and Nutrition Program beginning in 1999.

The book was successful, soon selling more than half a million copies in Australia and more than 100,000 overseas. In 2015, the program was taken to a new level when it went online. The CSIRO partnered with another organisation called Digital Wellness to develop a membership program and a range of digital tools to help subscribers on their “weight loss journey”. There’s a financial incentive. If you stick with the program for twelve weeks and record your progress, you can get up to $199 of your membership fee refunded. Of course, conditions apply.

So what’s not to like? One of the issues is the amount of red meat. Writing in The Monthly in 2008, Geoff Russell highlighted scientific research linking the consumption of red and processed meat to the incidence of colorectal cancer. The plan involves consuming 200g of red meat for dinner four times a week, well above the weekly limit of 445g recommended by the Cancer Council.

Russell also pointed out that the CSIRO research was partly funded by Meat and Livestock Australia and Dairy Australia, calling into question the integrity of the diet’s authors. This was met with strenuous denials. Other writers have been critical of “selling” diets when a high percentage of weight loss programs ultimately fail, and raised questions about who profits from the online program. The CSIRO points out that it has always partnered with industry and that any profits that accrue to the organisation itself are reinvested into research.

I bought the book. On the face of it, this eating regime seems less “faddy” than others like the Keto, Paleo, or Atkins diets. It doesn’t completely exclude any food groups, and the meal suggestions and recipes sound more like “normal” eating. But as someone whose favourite foods include peanut butter and avocado, I find the extremely limited allowance of even healthy fats a killer. It’s like any diet: without willpower, forget it.