You put a wife in the hospital that fasted...
That was the problem - one cannot fool one's body: one needs to eat a lot to keep a human body functioning properly. If not it will refuse to burn calories (though I'm preaching to the choir).
And you're are right - Americans (including myself, presently) eat way too many carbs.
This happened to me. I was using a modified Atkins when I was hospitalized, begging them not to use the typical IV - came out of the Hospital after 3 days, 5 pounds heavier, just from the darn IV's!! No one believed me. I went back to running, playing racquetball by myself, in order to hold my weight down, meanwhile no one understood the penalty for eating any carbs. It wasn't candy I was eating - watermelon, baked squash, baked potato, curried rice, bananas (!), anything high carb just wrecks my ability to lose weight or hold my weight at a steady number.
I have finally adjusted to the fact that I am extremely carbohydrate sensitive, and recognize that metabolisms just aren't all 'cookie cutter' - we are each so different. I have other endocrine difficulties which I am not going to go into here, but I do know one thing. If I eat the Atkins way, and exercise 5 times a week, I can lose weight, and hold my weight at a number I like. (I'm also not going to go into the crime that caused me gain this weight. Enuf said.)
Making this a twofer - "dead" - I've heard of black cherry juice being effective for gout, but I've never tried it, so I can't speak from experience.
I also take a small tablet called Colchicine that negates the purines in my body and lets me keep walking without pain. They cost about $5 for 100 of them - so since I don't have any prescription insurance, they are really affordable. You might find that they are cheaper than black cherry juice capsules, since sometimes the "natural" stuff costs more. Do not know anything about difference in effectiveness. I just know that Colchicine works for me.