Good question. I was extremely anti Atkins when it came out because I had several friends that had their arteries clogged (1 had to have bypass surgery) while on this diet, but I will stress they loaded up on fatty meats, no veggies. So I thought very little of this diet in general.
BUT....I began having candida issues and had to cut out the carbs in the form of sugars, breads, crackers, pasta, and as a result....I lost a lot of weight, but more amazingly I felt wonderful. Someone on another locarb posting mentioned the glycemic index diet and I want to check that out because I think this has probably been the main benefit to cutting carbs in my situation. When I stay with salads, veggies, lean protein, I remain very stable in my system, but when I eat simple carbs of any kind...my blood sugar soars and I get nervous, moody, etc. So....is lo carb necessary. For me it is, but everyone's different.
I think that many have benefited from it due to the cutting out of massive amounts of processed junk ie. fritos, doritos, little debbies, potatoe chips, white bread, on and on and on the list goes. So although, yes, it seems to be a fad, I think we as a country need to wake up and get back to basics...we are a very fat nation due to the fast food junk we are putting into our body. If lo carbing is helping get rid of this stuff then...more power to it. But don't substitute the "fake locarb money makers" in place of the hi carb processed foods. Eat your veggies, salads and unadulterated foods!!! (and by all means EXERCISE!!)
Briee