go ahead - eat a burger

From Men's Journal, please consider "Go Ahead, Eat a Burger":

It turns out it’s not how much carbohydrate, fat, protein, or sugar is in that double cheeseburger, but how many calories it has, if you’re looking to lose weight.

Researchers placed several hundred overweight people on four calorie-restricted diets that differed in proportions of protein, fat, and carbs. After six months, and again after two years, all participants lost the same amount of weight, even those who ate a high-carb diet. Researcher George Bray says “adherence to a dietary plan” is the biggest factor in weight loss; in other words, if you adopt a diet that makes you eat fewer calories, no matter what type of diet it is, you’ll lose weight. 

(emphasis mine)

I've been saying this for a decade (or however long it's been since I first heard about the Adkins diet.)  Think about it; the people who completely remove carbs from their diet probably weren't the healthiest eaters to begin with.  Now take an average restaurant lunch of a burger, fries, and coke (maybe 1,200 calories, give or take?), and remove the bun, fries, and coke.  You've just removed 75% of the calories from the meal - of course you're going to lose weight!  It's not the carbs; it's the calories.  I'm glad to see an official research study has confirmed common sense.

-Chris Butterworth