I totally agree- Yes according to a nutritionist perhaps these diets are not the 'ideal' but any Doctor will advise you that the health issues of being even just a stone overweight are huge!
I recently saw my doctor about some issues, and he advised me that they were all caused by being overweight (I am 13st roughly). When I asked what he felt I should do he simply advised me to 'try and not eat'. He said there is no miricle cure, you should just try and not eat until you are lighter!!! I thought this was a bit silly, but the principle is right.
As long as you take a vitamin supplement, your body will cope with missing some elements of a balanced diet, and will thank you when your not lugging around 3st extra fat!
I have previously done Lipotrim, LighterLife and Cambridge Plans (all sucessfully but short lived results). I am not in a position to afford this at the moment so I am attempting a home-made version.
As long as you are sensible, and listen to your body (eg. If you feel fient- drink! If you feel ill then eat something sensible) then you are only doing good by loosing weight. I personally would rather be slightly low on certain nutrients, than continue suffering with health problems from being overweight, end up diabetic (my sugar abuse was causing me probs and diabetes runs in my family), heart disease as I was too heavy to excersise properly, and cholestral issues.
This is only my opinion, but I think its just great that we are all here trying to do something about our weight problems.
Good luck everyone!