I picked #3 because I don't believe everyone does their best on super-restricted carb levels.

Some people have much better metabolisms than I do. My dad, for one, has never had a blood sugar problem in his life. He'd get up in the morning and take a bowl out of the cupboard that held about a quart, fill it full of corn flakes, mash those down, fill it again, mash those down, then when he finally got the bowl full of mashed cornflakes he poured milk and sugar all over it. I'm not saying sugar is good--I don't think it is for anyone, but this is what he ate for breakfast almost his whole adult life! Once he retired he started eating eggs and bacon but that's because he then had time to cook them.

His metabolism slowed down once he reached his mid-30s and my mom cut out the candy bar and dessert from his lunch. That was all he needed to maintain a healthy weight. Geez, you should've seen his dinner plates! Plenty of meat, high pile of potatoes and gravy, tons of veggies, bread and butter (usually two or three for each meal). And outside of having Alzheimer's, my dad is healthy at 73 years old.

Low-carb is very good for me and my husband, and our kids who've struggled with blood sugar issues pretty much their whole lives. But I think overall people who don't have insulin problems most likely don't need something as restricted as Atkins. At this point my teenage daughters eat a lot more carbs than I do--but the focus is on healthy, whole foods.