More Americans than ever before are overweight, despite decades of combatting the serious health issue. However, a recent national consumer survey may offer a hint at why consumers haven’t been more successful in their weight control efforts.

In the survey of 1,200 people early this year, polling company Customer Experience Partners discovered that American consumers may not be aware of the biggest cause of weight gain—excessive consumption of starches. In fact, when asked how likely various types of foods were to contribute to weight gain, sugars and fats received the highest percentage of responses, with starches only coming in third.

In addition, while respondents felt starches only represented 23% of their daily diet, the survey showed many consumers may be eating more starchy foods than they realized, with 83% indicating they consumed a starchy food like bread within the most recent 48-hour period; 65% snacked on crackers, chips or pretzels; and nearly 60% ate potatoes in some form.

“Of everything we eat, highly refined and rapidly digestible starchy carbohydrates produce the most insulin,” said David Foreman, retired pharmacist, author and radio host of, “The Herbal Pharmacist.” “This insulin puts fat cells into storage overdrive, promoting weight gain.”

While 40% of the respondents described themselves as “somewhat” or “substantially” overweight, the good news is that this group wants to lose weight with 56% having tried a weight loss program, and a whopping 89% who regularly take a weight loss aid.

“We’ve learned from this survey that many consumers are not aware that it’s the carbs that are making them overweight,” said Mitch Skop, senior director of new product development for Pharmachem Laboratories, Kearny, NY, sponsor of the survey. “Our challenge is to educate consumers about the problem of excessive carb consumption and that there is a proven ingredient, like Phase 2 Carb Controller, to address it. Since nearly 90% of consumers in the survey take a weight loss aid, they will be highly inclined to purchase such a safe and effective supplement.”

The survey was conducted by Customer Experience Partners, and sponsored by Pharmachem Laboratories, Inc., a major supplier of specialty and custom ingredients, including Phase 2 Carb Controller. The survey was conducted between Jan. 23 and Feb. 1, 2016. Results are subject to a statistical range of plus or minus 2.8%.