My experiences over the last ten years and those of my family strongly disagree re Atkins. Actually I think it's wise to just omit his name since that seems to strip people of all rationality. Most of the criticisms I've heard of Atkins come from people who've never read any of his books. There are also a lot of straw man arguments that attack things that don't appear anywhere in the literature. One thing almost no one seems to realize is that it's not just eating bacon and eggs and steaks. I would wager that outside of the first month or two as outlined in the first book, the average Atkins follower eats far more servings of veggies than your average person.

I really don't have any desire to debate it, given the fact that I've been doing so for ten years. It's worked pretty well for me, maybe it won't for you. But I will say that if you take to heart the main point he tries to make (ie stop eating empty carbs with no other food value) you'll be on your way to a lifetime of better health.