Remember when pretzels were the one diet snack food to have? That was back in the low-fat diet craze.

Now, the diet nosh to nab is fried pork rinds. Sales are booming, up 16 percent in 1998, four times the increase in sales of tortilla chips that year.

Once a no-show on the snacks hit parade, pork rinds have passed pumpkin and sunflower seeds and corn nuts in popularity, and they're pushing popcorn.

It's likely this has happened because rinds are the only fried snack allowed in the popular Atkins diet.

There was a bump in sales after high-protein diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins published his first diet book in 1981, but nothing like what the latest version -- 1998's second-best selling book -- produced, USA Today says.

Just what are pork rinds? They start as processed pig skin, which is cured, smoked and fried in its own fat. After most of the skin fat is removed, the rinds end up with half the fat of potato chips. They also have about 7 grams of protein and no carbohydrates, the key to the Atkins diet.

This Heart Information Network site discusses the nutrional aspects of the Atkins diet.

As for the bones of the Atkins Diet, you can not only check it out here but also compare it with other hot diets. Which one works best for you?