The proponents of the diet will keep saying that it works, it works! Of course it works! People lose weight on the grapefruit diet too. But at what cost to your overall health?
Some of the misconceptions are in your mention. Once past induction and into regular ongoing loss or maintenance, Atkins does suggest Old Fashioned Oats but not 1 minute or microwave(pg 45 Atkins for Life) 100% whole grain bread in moderation (pg 45 Atkins for Life) All-Bran (pg 45) apples, berries, cherries, grapefruit and lots of green vegetables. Yes sweet corn should only be eatin in moderation (pg 39) Red wine is allowed in moderation and no diet suggests beer.
In the beginning phase, Atkins is pretty restrictive, but it is almost a cleansing of a wrong carb infested body. Honestly, this is the first time in my life that whether dieting or not, I don't think about or crave food all the time. Some people eat to live, I lived to eat. No longer. There wasn't a donut shop, cookie aisle, candy rack or pizza house that I could pass. I have no desire for those items now. I used to eat a dozen donuts in a setting I was that bad. I stopped at a Krispy Kreme one night and was going to bring home the hot fresh donuts. Bought a dozen. Gone before I got home. Sad. But no longer.
Thursday night we made spaghetti squash with meat sauce and a salad. Last night pork chops and broccoli and cheese with strawberries for dessert. Lunch was a Jr. bacon cheeseburger (without bun but with lettuce and tomato) and salad. Seems pretty healthy to me.
Some days to jump start, I do induction myself for a few days, but moderate back to a more liberal diet.
Also a year ago, my wife had blood work done. Almost everything was out of whack to the high side. She did it again last week. Everything was back to normal levels. She has weened herself from the coke, pop tarts, candy bars and lack of proper diet to Atkins. Biggest problem with the above is refined sugar or worse corn syrup and refined flours. They are killers.