Then why are rural Chinese who live off of a rice and noodle based diet thin, while westerners who eat far more protein and fat are enormous?<p>Measured against GDP, countries in which rice-based diets are common (Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, etc...) have very thin, very long lived people compared with the protein crazed areas such as the US, UK, Australia, Canada.<p>Honestly, the only place I hear this carbohydrate-bashing crap is in English language news from places filled with fat people.