Well, this discussion evokes passionate arguments on both sides of the issue... I've been doing Atkins or some form there of for about 10 months now. For me personally, it's been a God send... I have type 2 diabetes. As long as I keep my weight down and get marginal exercise, my blood sugar stays "normal". I was eating Lean Cuisine, and generally not taking in many calories, but not at the weight I needed to be. I'm about 5'11" and I was pushing 200. I'm about 179 now. At 200, my blood sugar was also pushing 200, not good... With high sugar, you risk heart disease, no lead in the pencil, feet fall off, kidneys shut down, etc... It's horrible! but in my case, treatable, just keep the weight down :-) So I tried the Atkins. For me, it's been wonderful! My weight has come off, my blood sugar is way down, AND my cholesterol is down... It's a myth that the Atkins is bad for your cholesterol, the converse is in fact true, the same bio-chemical condition that causes you to loose weight (Ketosis) prevents the high cholesterol diet from actually giving you high cholesterol. It sounds weird, but the book says it, and I have observed it with my own tests...
Downside? It's hard not to eat carbs. Everything has carbs! I eat eggs, cheese, and meat. Outside of that, I have celery with my dinner (roughage), and take a soluble fiber pill with my daily supplements. You have to take vitamins if you're on the Atkins because you're not getting enough from your food. It's hard at first, but when you've done it for a month or so, it's easy. Also, this diet reduces your appetite. After you’ve been on it for a while, you loose much of your hunger.
For me, it's a lifestyle now. High protein, low or no carbs. Additionally, the news media has recently come out with a number of reports on the beneficial effects of such a diet. Every 2 months or so, I take 3 or 4 days off. Pizza! Candy! Ice cream!! Other than that, I'm very strict with it and recommend it highly.
