Going Beyond Atkins: There's no question that carbs can make you fat. But are bunless burgers the best alternative? Here's a healthier, and tastier, way to cut carbs.( )

Byline: Walter C. Willett, M.D., and Patrick J. Skerrett

A middle-aged man, tired of being fat and having trouble losing weight, happens on a low-carbohydrate diet. He tries it for a few months and watches happily as the pounds slip away without the gnawing hunger and cravings that other diets have caused him. He writes a book that is a huge hit with the public, even though the medical establishment scorns it. The book is William Banting's "Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public." It was published in London in 1863.

Imagine Banting's delight if he could listen in on a 21st-century cocktail party. We're still duly obsessed with our corpulence. And thanks to Dr. Robert Atkins, the cantankerous cardiologist who revived Banting's theories in the 1970s, most people now assume that carbohydrates are part of the problem. We don't "diet" anymore. We "go on Atkins," trusting that bunless burgers will do for us what fat-free doughnuts never did. Our faith is not entirely misguided. It's now clear that carb-rich foods can inflate appetite and foster type 2 diabetes, and that low-carb diets promote short-term weight loss. But healthy eating is not quite as simple, or as boring, as living on fat and protein. The truth is, you can have your carbs and eat them, too. You just have to know how to choose them.

When Atkins came out against bread, potatoes and pasta 30 years ago, mainstream nutritionists dismissed him as a crank. Fat was the demon of the day, and carbohydrates were seen as their exorcist. That's still true today, at least…