With countless Canadians following a low carbohydrate, high protein diet regime, some of the most unlikely food and beverage manufacturers are hoping the diet craze will help fatten their profits.

Fast food restaurants, breweries, and now bread makers are among the companies in the food industry scrambling to cater to the fickle tastes of carb-counting Canadians.

Canada's Weston Bakeries is the latest to introduce a product specially designed to fit in such menus -- a low-carb bread set to appear on grocers' shelves this month.

And in a few weeks, Burger King restaurants in the U.S. will be offering "breadless" Whoppers. Burger King Canada's Leslie Root told CTV reporter Joy Malbon that the bunless burger was something the company needed to do.

"As the Atkins diets, the South Beach diets gain momentum, we have to make sure we have an offering that will help people watching their carb consumption."

The Whopper will have only three carbohydrates; the price of the burger will remain the same.

Bread, once a staple in the North American diet, is now the enemy for some Atkins and other high-protein, low-carb diet followers.

Many diet books have vilified foods high in starch carbohydrates, such as breads, pastas and processed cereals, saying they are contributing to obesity by raising insulin levels.

Perhaps no idea is more controversial in the diet world than the contention -- long espoused by the late Dr. Robert Atkins -- that people on low-carbohydrate diets can consume more calories without paying a price on the scales.

Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts' surprise, that the Atkins approach actually does work better, at least in the short run. Dieters lose more than those on a standard American Heart Association plan without driving up their cholesterol levels, as many feared would happen.

Mark Hayhoe of Canada's Hayhoe Mills said he and his family moved quickly to try and react to the change in attitude. "Initially, it's a threat, but now for us, it's an opportunity."

Hayhoe's flour milling business is now offering a low-carb, high-fibre flour, and says his customers are responding. They're buying the flour to make low-carb pizzas, cookies, and crackers.

But nutritionist Rosie Schwartz doesn't believe that eliminating carbs is the solution to the problem.

"What we're doing is looking for magic bullet, what we've got to start doing is start moving, become less sedentary. One of the answers to obesity is not cutting out the carbs," she says.

Mary Bush of Health Canada says cutting out carbs cuts down on important nutrients the body needs to fight disease.

"The National Academy of Sciences recommends that approximately 45 to 65 per cent of energy be derived by carbohydrates."

Atkins rose to fame in 1972 when he published his controversial book, Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. The unorthodox weight-loss plan -- which emphasizes meat, eggs and dairy and discourages starch and fruit -- immediately drew anger from the medical community who declared the eating plan highly dangerous.

Atkins preached that fat could make you fit, and that trading starchy carbs for bacon and eggs could actually leave dieters more satisfied, making them less prone to bingeing.

While the American Medical Association dismissed the diet as potentially dangerous, his book flew off the bookshelves selling more than 10 million copies worldwide, and spending five years on the New York Times best-seller list. He updated his original book in the 1990s almost 20 years later.

With files from CTV's Joy Malbon