Low-carb finding

Cutting down on pasta, bread and potatoes is a quicker way to lose weight than eating fewer fatty foods, although both diets show similar results after a year, according to two new United States studies.

In the first study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, results after six months showed that people on the "low-carb" diet, in which they ate less than 30g of carbohydrates a day, lost 5kg to 9kg.

After 12 months, people on a low-calorie diet, in which less than a third of the food contained fat, lost 3kg to 9kg.

Dr Linda Stern of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Centre said: "More research is needed to see if a low-carbohydrate diet remains safe and effective for the longer term."