They're off the hips, but on the lips: Carbs. Everybody's yakking about them. Morin's Diner in Attleboro is pitching low-carbohydrate dishes, Stop & Shop in North Attleboro carries `` Atkins Diet-approved'' products, and bread and pasta industries are scrambling to shore up lagging markets.

Everywhere is evidence that white-food-restrictive diets are blazing a wide swath through the food industry. Burger King will hold the bun, if you ask, and some pizza makers are revising their recipes.

Meanwhile, L.A. Weightloss clinic is pitching diet plans that include carbs for those who just cringe at a bagelless day.

Let the jousting begin.

The first-ever "bread summit'' was held in Providence last fall to brainstorm ways to counteract a reported decline in bread use among 40 per cent of Americans.

But last month, the low-carb industry flexed its muscles, and held two summits to discuss the windfall for corporations and niche markets. Participants dined on low-carb specialty foods.

What's a consumer to think?

The flagship Atkins Diet, which has taken the country by storm, works on the principle that when carbohydrate intake is limited, the body turns to stored fat for fuel, said Heidi Reichenberger of Boston, a registered dietitian, nutrition consultant and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

So devotees go heavy on protein -- often meat -- limiting potato, white bread, rice, spaghetti, refined cereals, even fruits.

The approach gathered clout Thursday (Feb. 5) when the government announced that carbs are the biggest culprit in the ballooning of Americans.

But Reichenberger, who supports balancing calories with exercise for a healthy lifestyle, discourages her clients from Atkins-type diets. She said weight-loss on the diet comes not from foods which are selected but from those that have been omitted.

"What people need to keep in mind is that whether it's carbohydrates, protein or fat, there is a role for all those nutrients in our body,'' Reichenberger said. `` The problem is the portions people eat. People will think of nothing of eating a bakery bagel, which has five to six servings of starch. Six to 12 a day is recommended by the USDA Food Pyramid.

" When you get a pound of pasta on your plate, that's another 16 servings.''

The source of calories doesn't matter, she said, it's the number.

" If my body needs 1,000 calories and I eat 1,000 calories of Hostess Twinkies, I'm not going to gain weight,'' she said. " If I eat 2,000 calories of carrots, I'm going to gain weight.''

Those who have scored success on the diet, however, are jubilant.

Special reason

Alex Spurrier, 25, of Attleboro has lost 17 pounds and one clothing size in 3 1/2 weeks on Atkins. His weight had hovered at 150 pounds for years, then crept to a high of 217 late last year, he said.

" One of the biggest changes, of course, is eliminating foods rich in carbohydrates,'' said Spurrier, who starts his day with an omelet and sausage or bacon. `` I don't eat as much as I had before. Hunger cravings are totally curbed. I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and I don't snack in between.''

He's cut out breakfast cereal, muffins.

"I was eating whenever I felt like it,'' said Spurrier, who adopted the diet at 211 pounds. " If I was watching television and there was a commercial on, I'd go to the fridge or cupboard and take some food out and return to the couch and started eating as I watched my program.''

Those days are gone.

His epiphany arrived on Jan. 5 in the form of a Dateline television special.

"About a half-dozen people volunteered to try different diets,'' Spurrier said. " One tried Weight Watchers, one hypnosis, one Slim Fast, one jogging. There was this one man who did the Atkins Diet. He lost over 100 pounds in nine months. After that, I was pretty much sold.''

Powerful allure

The powerful allure of low-carb diets is reflected in statistics.

Unit sales of dried pasta, bread and rice declined over the year ending December 2003, while protein sources, meat, cheese, nuts and eggs, were on an upswing, according to new information released Thursday to The Sun Chronicle by Matt Bell, senior director of media relations for industry tracker AC Nielsen.

The figures are based on tracking of grocery stores, drug stores and mass merchandising outlets. Such trends are providing both opportunity and challenge for food retailers.

The Valen Group, a strategy consulting firm, found in December that 59 million Americans -- just shy of 30 percent of the population -- were watching carbs. The study was carried out at the behest of Dean Rotbart, executive editor of LowCarbiz, which produces a new online newsletter.

" It's huge right now,'' said Daisy Whitney, editorial director. " It's the area of focus if you're in the food business.''

Numerous special-interest groups such as True-Carb Coalition, the Carb Awareness Council and the Low-Carb Consumers League, have sprung up, she said, and they are now edging toward consensus on labeling to be presented to the Food & Drug Administration.

" What can we call low carb?'' she said, " Or reduced carb?''

No definition

This is also a question nutritionist Heidi Reichenberger urges the public to consider.

" There is no definition of what low-carbohydrate is, according to the FDA,'' she said." Company A may use 10 grams, company B may have 20 grams, and you don't know what's `low' because there's no definition.''

Some specialty low-carb products, she said, were up to four times higher in carbohydrates than stated when tested in a laboratory.

" The third problem is the way a food becomes low-carb,'' Reichenberger said. " It is through use of soy flour and other soy-based products, but that has as many calories or more. And if you eat too many calories, you're going to gain weight.''

Jennifer Nelson is a registered dietitian and director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

" I think we're all going to be seeing some frightening information coming out about obesity in America, and it will be important for all of us to take stock of what we personally are eating and how we live our lives,'' she said. " It's not going to be a diet, it's going to be a lifestyle that we're going to have to come to grips with.''

Nothing new?

Marketing has always reflected emerging nutrition trends. Sugar-free soda, artificial sweeteners, low-cholesterol dishes, organic produce are all reflective of this highly fluid industry.

Lynn Larsen, a registered dietitian and clinical nutrition manager at Caritas-Norwood Hospital, urges consumers to watch out for signs of fad diets -- anything that promotes quick weight-loss, is billed as a cure-all, requires specialty foods, limits foods or mandates certain times for consuming food or lacks research.

" Fad diets grab society, and even intelligent people fall for their claims,'' Larsen said. " Consumers are constantly bombarded and don't know if it's a credible source.''

Larsen concedes that Atkins works for weight-loss, for many people -- and she's not surprised.

" They've gone from eating anything and everything, and anyone would lose weight,'' she said. " But we want people to eat a variety of foods. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains.''

Mary Gibeault is owner with her father, Dick Flynn, of North Attleboro's Alternative Market, which does offer `` low-carb'' niche foods consistent with Atkins.

" I don't think it's that healthy,'' Gibeault said. " Maybe if it's done properly, but I think too many people think they can eat all the fat they want. And I think that leads to colon cancer and heart disease.''

Some people think the low-carb trend has a limited shelf life.

" The whole move for low-carb everything is just another retake on the low-fat thing we did before the low-carb thing,'' said Jeanine Achin of the Attleboro YMCA. " What happened when they decided everyone had to lower fat intake is we were inundated by companies with low-fat Danish, low-fat candy, low-fat muffins. Now we have low-carb candy bars, low-carb cookies and even meals being marketed as low carb.''

Achin acknowledges that low-carb diets are useful for some people, but is a proponent of " natural'' foods eaten in moderation and coupled with exercise.