Among 34 overweight people who followed different regimens for three months, those who were told to eat a high-carb, low-fat diet until they were no longer hungry lost 7 pounds. Adding moderate exercise to the diet increased weight loss to 11 pounds.

High-carb eaters also lost a higher percentage of body fat and experienced a larger decrease in thigh size than people who followed a diet that was lower in carbohydrates and higher in fat.

On average, people following the lower-carb diet did not lose any weight during the study period, the authors report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"If you just simply reduce fat in the diet, and allow people to eat as much carbohydrates as they want, they lose weight," Dr. William J. Evans of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences told Reuters Health.

These findings appear at a time when the Atkins diet and other low-carb fare are more popular than ever. However, some researchers and health professionals remain skeptical of low-carb diets, especially the Atkins diet, which has been criticized for touting the benefits of liberal amounts of steak, eggs and fatty foods linked with increased cholesterol and heart disease.

The current study involved 34 people, an average of 66 years old, who were sedentary, overweight nonsmokers. One group of people ate what Evans described as a "typical" American diet: roughly 40 percent fat and 45 percent carbohydrates. The others consumed a diet that contained around 20 percent fat, 60 percent carbohydrate and 20 percent protein.

All participants were provided with all meals, and returned any uneaten portions so that the researchers could measure precisely how many calories they consumed.

In an interview, Evans said that people from all groups ate around 2500 calories per day, roughly the recommended amount for their size. This suggests that they did, in fact, eat only until they were no longer hungry, he noted.

The high-carb diet likely helped people lose weight because they ate the same amount that they normally did, but less fat, Evans noted. "Despite what corporate America may be telling you these days, decreasing fat intake is still the best way to lose weight," he said.

Although Evans conceded that the popular low-carb diets may, in fact, help people lose weight, they do so by inducing a process in the body that curbs appetite. Consequently, once people abandon the diet, their appetite can increase, causing them to gain back what they once lost, Evans said.

In contrast, a high-carb diet does not appear to change appetite, enabling you to shed excess pounds for good, he noted. "The lower fat, high carbohydrate diet is essentially one you can follow for the rest of your life," Evans said.

American Dietetic Association spokesperson Katherine Tallmadge agreed that cutting back on fat is a good weight-loss strategy, but noted that people should not change their eating habits because of one study. Different diets work for different people, she said, and the key is to find one that you can follow and enjoy. "You can probably lose weight another way, too," Tallmadge noted.

And although high-carb eaters shed pounds without exercise and without counting calories, Tallmadge pointed out that the best way to lose weight is to eat a healthy amount and to try to burn off your food with exercise.

"In the end, (overeating and avoiding exercise) is doomed to fail," she said.

Source: Yahoo News: Reuters Health: Archives of Internal Medicine, January 26, 2004.