Sane Weight Loss in a Carb-Obsessed World: High Fiber and Low Fat By JANE E. BRODY, who writes on the expense of low-carb products, and points out that the world's slimmest people, the Far Easterners who mainly subsist on rice, don't eat a low-carb diet. She then explains how to avoid gaining weight:

As a recent 12-week study of 34 men and women in their 60's so clearly demonstrated, those who consumed, without caloric restrictions, a diet high in fiber-rich carbohydrates (63 percent of calories, with 26 grams of fiber per 1,000 calories), low in fat (18 percent of calories) and moderate in protein lost more weight and a higher percentage of body fat than did those who ate the same number of calories of a typical American diet, that is, one high in fat (41 percent of calories) and relatively low in carbs (45 percent of calories).

The study showed that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet could result in weight loss and reduced body fat while preserving muscle mass, even without any change in caloric intake, as long as the carbs were low in added sugars and refined starches. And the weight is lost without having to avoid delicious, health-promoting fruits and instead eating lots of fiber-free and fat-laden eggs, cheese and meats. (The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock and was published in January in Archives of Internal Medicine).

How can this happen? It happens because fiber-rich carbohydrates offer three major benefits to the weight-conscious eater: they hold water in the gut, take longer to digest and some of their calories are eliminated unabsorbed. In other words, they can fill you up before they fill you out.

In fact, some of the so-called low-carb products now on the market seek to cash in on this well-established dietetic principle. In foods like low-carb bread and pasta, producers substitute fibrous carbs for some of the more refined ones, resulting in a product that is claimed to provide fewer "net carbs" than the original.

But will such foods result in a leaner population any more than the low-fat, fat-free food fad did? Not very likely, given the lack of attention most Americans pay to portion control. All that many people did on low-fat and fat-free products was gain more weight because they figured that fat-free gave them license to eat as much as they wanted, without regard to serving size and calories per serving...

A diet high in fat and low in carbs has yet to be tested for long-term safety and effectiveness. But fiber-rich balanced diets, replete with whole grains, fruits and vegetables along with reasonable quantities of fish, poultry, meat and dairy products, have been repeatedly shown to be conducive to enjoyable eating and to achieving and maintaining a normal body weight and long-lasting health.

She advocates eating mostly

whole grain breads and cereals; lots of vegetables, salads and fresh and dried fruits; poultry, fish, meat and dried beans and peas and skim milk.

and less

white rice and pasta, potatoes, winter squash, avocados, regular cheese, eggs, cookies and ice cream and an occasional piece of cake or pie.

She also advocates "portion control" (eating less of the high calorie stuff) and regular daily physical exercise.