| I have a copy of The Atkins Diabetes Revolution written after his death by his associates. I bought it when I thought I had type 2. It contains quite a lot of sense and some good explanations of metabolic processes. I'm just very wary of the very low carb phase of his diet.
It starts with the very low carb phase of 20gm carb daily and then 'when your metabolism is fairly well under control' (ie fasting BS, blood pressure and lipids lowered) carbs are gradually added, 20 gms at a time until an equlibibrium is reached. 'For some of you that number will be only 20gms a day, others may be able to go up as high as 40 or even 60 gms a day'
He emphasises the concept of the Glycaemic index(called the Atkins Glycaemic ranking) so therefore low GI fruits are not excluded.
He stresses eating the 'right foods' (veg high in antioxidants, oily fish, high calcium foods and high fibre whole grains, five portions of fruit and veg).
He advocates regular meals, counting calories 'if necessary' and exercise.
His concept of healthy fats includes eggs, cheese, meats, pouiltry , olive oil , advocados and oily fish.(but his restriction on calories means portion sizes of these foods has to be small).
He suggests eating enough protein 'to satisfy appetite'
Personally, apart from the initial very low carb phase I don't find what I read in this book as alarming as Bernsteins diet (from what i've read on the internet). Although he only includes equilibrium levels of up to 60gms carbs a day, presumably some people will have even higher equilibriums: the book is aimed at type 2 with insulin resistance.
I had been concerned about the advocacy of commercial products (for me ersatz and unavailable here anyway) He does suggest the use of 'low carb' products (including his own) but warns against trans fats and prioritises fresh, whole foods.
I did a quick calorie count of a couple of his suggested days menus on the initial phase (using his recipe quantities and 'normal portion sizes for protein) and came to between 1200 and 1300. Low but not as low as some fad diets.  | 
