Are the people you're talking about doing "Atkins" or are they just lcing? I have a girlfriend that is lowering her carbs but is not follow Atkins. She hasn't read any books and she is doing well. If a person is doing Atkins yes they should read the book or read everything on the website. But don't get yourself upset is someone is LCing and havent read they Atkins book maybe they're LCing but necessarily following Atkins.