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Plenty of full blood panels and lost weight show that those people are wrong. That includes my own.

The fourth phase of Atkins goes to 100 net carbs a day. Not exactly “low carb.”

The ADA knew in 2006 that low carb actually fixed diabetes, but said that because a low carb diet was not as easy as eating pasta, they couldn’t recommend it:

https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20060616/do-low-carb-diets-help-diabetes

Now, 13 years later, the ADA gladly admits low carb is a provably excellent way to live a long life:

https://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/very-low-carbohydrate-diets-for-diabetes-ada-2018-580309/

The main UK Diabetes group has this now on their website, while the ADA is still “introducing” people to their newfound stance:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/professionals/position-statements-reports/food-nutrition-lifestyle/low-carb-diets-for-people-with-diabetes

The basis of the “Atkins diet” is a metabolic trick. If you cut out all the carbohydrates in your diet your body has to convert fat and protein into the sugar that every cell in your body needs to survive. This process is more metabolically inefficient so you have to eat more calories to get the same amount of energy.

Fat and protein also take longer to digest so they do not raise your blood sugar as much as easy to digest carbohydrates. Fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin level affect a person's appetite so this is one of the reasons not eating carbohydrates is also helpful to some I individuals when trying to control their cravings.

The primary issue that I have with the “Atkins diet” is that it encourages people to almost completely eliminate an entire food group from their diet. This has many unintended consequences that are not healthy. We now have probably a majority of people who make their dietary choices based on how many “carbs” foods have in them rather than the important nutrients they contain for your body and digestive system. This is misguided.

I have personally witnessed sad situations many times now. People become fat by eating too much crap and not exercising. They then experience weight loss by using one of the “low carb” diets. Then they become fanatical about it and accept only information that reinforces what they already believe. Some of them begin to experience serious health problems that are directly related to their fad diet and end up in the hospital. Then they refuse to take the dietary advice of the medical professionals that are trying to help them get healthy again. After reading and watching all the tainted propaganda spread by our diet industry they believe that they know better than doctors and nutritionists.

It sounds so ridiculous that it is hard to believe that anyone who is not a moron would do this. But I have lost friends who I can assure you were very intelligent, and I saw this same scenario play out many times on medical calls that we responded to. I know that you will not believe me, but people who have bought into the Atkins diet are typically the worst. It frustrates me because our multi-billion dollar diet industry cares much more about hawking supplements and processed foods than about the health of their customers.

I am glad that doctors have found “low carb” diets that help some people with diabetes. But this has little if anything to do with people making unwise nutritional choices based solely on the amount of “carbs” various foods contain.