Dieting leads to weight cycling. Dieting causes binge eating. Overeating and even purging are the result of dieting. In other words, there are bad consequences awaiting those who diet. So dieting is no good for you. This is one view.
Another viewpoint is that dieting works miracles. The weight will simply drop off you. Just go on this, that, or the other diet. Follow the diet plan religiously and slimness will be yours.
The views that dieting is bad for you or it will work miracles for you are, of course, much too extreme conclusions. The evidence is not there for either viewpoint.
In any case, dieting shouldn’t be the issue. Dieting is simply a food plan for losing weight. Your main concern should be the dieter. She is the one who has to choose a suitable (emphasis on suitable) food plan. The dieter is the one who has to work the food plan so she accomplishes her goal of losing her unwanted weight.
If you are going to evaluate the harm or value of the most important element for weight loss, the dieter not dieting or the diet should be your focus. After all, it is the dieter who chooses a diet regimen that is so restrictive it is harmful. And it is the dieter who believes that this diet or that diet will work miracles for her. It is the dieter’s psychology and not dieting that needs to be investigated. What do you say to this?