Carbohydrates get a new, critical look as the bad boys of our national diet. We’ll look at the research.

Talk about fixing health and health care in America and you’ve got to talk about fixing our national weight. American obesity rates have climbed and climbed. We’ve had all kinds of advice about how to turn back the tide. And we struggle, one by one, to try.

A new study says we’ve got to look again and very critically at carbohydrates. That calories from carbs are not like others. That they drive up our weight and make it harder to bring it down and keep it down.

This hour, On Point: we’re looking again at carbs, and getting serious about the path to a leaner USA.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

David Ludwig, professor of pediatrics and nutrition and is the director of the Obesity Program at the Children's Hospital Boston. You can find his new study into the effects of carbs here.

Ellie Krieger, nutritionist, dietitian, and host of the The Food Network show “Healthy Appetite” now airing on The Cooking Channel.

Aner Tal, postdoctoral research associate in the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University. He’s the lead author of the study published in Archives of Internal Medicine: First Foods Most: After 18-Hour Fast, People Drawn to Starches First and Vegetables Last.

From Tom's Reading List

New York Times "What it means is that a calorie of protein will generate the same energy when metabolized in a living organism as a calorie of fat or carbohydrate. When talking about obesity or why we get fat, evoking the phrase “a calorie is a calorie” is almost invariably used to imply that what we eat is relatively unimportant."

USA Today "The research finds that dieters who were trying to maintain their weight loss burned significantly more calories eating a low-carb diet than they did eating a low-fat diet."

Chicago Sun Times "The research finds that dieters who were trying to maintain their weight loss burned significantly more calories eating a low-carb diet than they did eating a low-fat diet."