If its anything like technology, dieting probably suffers from baseless trends which become self-sustaining at a certain point.
But that has nothing to do with the fact that it's a nutritional fad these days, much like paleo was the hip-est thing a few years back, and the mediterranean diet was en vogue before that etc.
Ultimately, for me, these articles boil down to me being willing to change my relationship with food. The more I eat for health, and less for pleasure, the better off I'll be.