Dr. Atkins admits freely in his book that the diet is not balanced. "If a little of something is not good for you, then why should a lot of it be better?"
The Atkins diet is not balanced because it is CORRECTIVE. Horseshoers use unbalanced shoes on horses to correct poor stride. Same way with diet: you correct an imbalance with another imbalance.
If you are eating a "balanced" diet and you are healthy, you don't need a corrective diet. Do what you are doing. But for people who have been eating an UNBALANCED diet for the last several years, and who are paying the price for that bad diet in obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other metabolic disorders, then an unbalanced diet may be the only corrective step that can be taken short of medical intervention. And, what's "unbalanced" about meat, vegetables, and fruit, anyway? The only thing that is not found in large quantities in the Atkins or any other low-carbohydrate diet are foods high in simple carbohydrates like baked goods, pastries, candies, and processed, refined pseudo-foods.
Never be afraid of meats and their attached fats. The human body needs saturated fats for nerve and brain development, proper hormone formation and secretion, and skin, hair, and eye health. Bones cannot take up calcium and other minerals unless saturated fatty acids are present. (Isn't it interesting that the increase in osteoporosis is almost exactly parallel to the removal of natural saturated fats from the diet?)
Scientific evidence abounds on the good effects of a low-carbohydrate diet. Just because the government or the press says high-carb is best, doesn't mean it is. Nine times out of ten, you will find that the "scientists" who tout these perverted diets are (or have been) in the pay of the food giants. The food-grain and -oil producers and the food megagiants find pet researchers who twiddle with figures and manipulate research to make the numbers say what they want, but the medical FACTS are out there if anyone cares to research the subject. Read Uffe Ravnskov's book, THE CHOLESTEROL MYTHS by Uffe Ravnskov. He researched the RESEARCH, and found some very interesting hanky-panky.
A new "study" was discussed here on FR only a few weeks ago, I believe from the Univ. Of Michigan.
The study asserted that people who eat a nice big cereal breakfast tend to be thin, while those who eat no breakfast or (even worse) bacon and eggs, tend to be fatties.
Noted in passing was that this "comprehensive" study was financed in part by Kellogg.
You've noticed the dirty little secret of modern scientific research -- no research gets done unless it is financed by a grant, and the researcher is under a lot of pressure to not produce results that would distress the grant issuer.