The Atkins low carbohydrate diet is an acceptable diet for weight loss.  It might even provide better glucose and triglyceride control for people with diabetes and metabolic syndrome.  Current research comparing the Atkins Diet to the low fat diet found, at the end of one year, both diets produced an equal amount of weight loss and favorable changes in blood lipid levels.  But regardless of the way you mix the ratio carbohydrates, protein and fat in your diet, you must burn more calories than you consume to lose weight.  Read slightly different interpretations of the research from the Guides to Heart Disease, Thyroid Disease and Low Carb Diets at About.com