Volokh says that Fumento says (in Reason Online) that the Atkins Diet doesn't work. Maybe it's because some people don't actually lose weight when they stick to it; maybe it's because some people can't stick with it and therefore don't lose weight. It doesn't matter; saying a weight-loss diet works or doesn't work is too sweeping a generalization. It makes more sense to figure out when it works, why, and for whom.

Volokh also seems to be missing, despite a couple reader comments, that although calorie intake is the main weight-loss causative, what form those calories take can be a major factor in whether or not people can find the right food, feel cravings, feel energetic, and in general are able to keep to the diet.