Whole-grain, high-fiber foods help with weight control.

Walk into any supermarket or pick up any popular magazine, and you'll see recommendations to eat a low-carb diet to promote weight loss. This issue's Nutrition Hotline examines many of the fallacies associated with Atkins-type diets. A recent study adds additional support to those questioning recommendations to reduce dietary carbohydrate. Researchers from Harvard University differentiated between diets that are high in carbohydrate from whole grains and high-fiber foods and diets that consist mainly of refined-grain products. They studied more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Their results? Women who ate more whole grains weighed less than women who ate fewer whole grains. Women with the highest intake of dietary fiber had a 49 percent lower risk of major weight gain than did women with the lowest fiber intakes. The bottom line? If you're trying to control your weight, focus on high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and eat fewer refined-grain products.

Liu S, Willett WC, Manson JE, et al. 2003. Relation between changes in intakes of dietary fiber and grain products and changes in weight and development of obesity among middle-aged women. Am J Clin Nutr 78:920-27.