As a psychiatrist I have only seen people die of mental illness from overdose, suicide, and anorexia nervosa. And I agree, this has become a religion. The problem is we also have an obesity epidemic for which dieting is the best thing. But people always take a point of view or teaching and turn it into religion. Look at our present political situation. And as Patrick Weseman says below, this is big business. Posts like yours, Shannon, give us a good reminder to adjust our thinking. Thank you for writing it.