Of course, Jakicic's findings also support that other factor crucial for successful weight loss -- cutting calories.

The 200 women he evaluated, typically 5-foot-4 and weighing 192 pounds when his study began, all cut their calories to 1,200 to 1,500 a day and fat intake to no more than 30% of total calories consumed.

"In this study, they cut calories by almost one-third their previous levels," says I-Min Lee, MBBS, ScD, of Harvard Medical School, who wrote an accompanying editorial to Jakicic's study.

"It's a balance issue. You can exercise very little but eat nothing and still lose weight. It comes down to how much you are willing to sacrifice, in terms of what you eat and what you do to burn it off. Most people don't want to cut their food intake by too much."

Still, Lee tells WebMD that this study shows that a little exercise, done consistently, can do a lot of good.

Pump Up Your Fitness, Too

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The researchers also found that all four levels of exercise had same effect on improving fitness level. Looking at increases in oxygen consumption -- a measure of how well body uses oxygen for energy -- researchers found that all four groups had similar improvements after 12 months of exercise.

The Greatest Weight Loss

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"You will get greatest weight loss from changing your caloric intake in short run," says Jakicic. "However, it appears that without exercise, initial weight loss is less and long-term maintenance of weight loss becomes extremely difficult. So, diet without exercise will make maintenance of weight loss very difficult."

Conversely, he says that exercise without dieting makes weight loss slow and probably less effective -- especially if you're looking to drop serious poundage.

His recommendation for ideal combination: "If an individual reduces their current level of intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day and exercises 30 to 60 minutes a day, weight loss will be around two pounds per week, on average."

Source: WebMD

Most low-carb diets cause ketosis. Some of potential consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion. During initial phase of low-carb dieting some fatigue and constipation may be encountered. Generally, these symptoms dissipate quickly. Ketosis may also give breath a fruity odor, somewhat like nail-polish remover (acetone).

Low-carb diets do not enable consumption of more calories than other kinds of diets, as has been often reported. A calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter weather they come from carbohydrates or fat. Study discrepancies are likely result of uncontrolled circumstances; i.e. diet participants that cheat on calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or any number of other factors. The drop-out rate for strict (i.e. less than 40 grams of CHO/day) low-carb diets is relatively high.

What Should You Do? - There are 3 important points I would like to re-emphasize:

- The long-range success rate for low-carb and other types of diets is similar.

- Despite their popularity, little information exists on long-term efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets.

- Strict low-carb diets are usually not sustainable as a normal way of eating. Boredom usually overcomes willpower.

It is obvious after reviewing topic, that more, well-designed and controlled studies are needed. There just isn't a lot of good information available, especially concerning long-range effects. Strict low-carb diets produce ketosis which is an abnormal and potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some circumstances this might cause health related complications.

The diet you choose should be a blueprint for a lifetime of better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to reach your weight goal. If you can't see yourself eating prescribed foods longer than a few days or a week, then chances are it's not right diet. To this end, following a moderately low fat diet with a healthy balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate and other nutrients is beneficial.

If you do decide to follow a low-carb plan, remember that certain dietary fats are associated with reduction of disease. Foods high in unsaturated fats that are free of trans-fatty acids such as olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, and nuts are preferred to fats from animal origins.

Even promoters of Atkins diet now say people on their plan should limit amount of red meat and saturated fat they eat. Atkins representatives are telling health professionals that only 20 percent of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat (i.e. meat, cheese, butter). This change comes as Atkins faces competition from other popular low-carb diets that call for less saturated fat, such as South Beach diet plan. Low-carb dieting should not be considered as a license to gorge on red meat!

Another alternative to "strict" low-carb dieting would be to give up some of bad carbohydrate foods but not "throw out baby with bath water". In other words, foods high in processed sugar, snacks, and white bread would be avoided, but foods high in complex carbohydrates such as fruit, potatoes and whole grains, retained.