I found this section of a website that is quite interesting and gives a slightly different perspective. But basically I don't really get too worried about how it works, I just know that it does
Controlling hunger
Scientists are now more interested than ever in what makes us eat less. They have concluded that there is something about the Atkins diet that controls hunger.
Research has shown that fat is the least filling food. But new work in Denmark is showing exactly what kinds of food may control hunger.
Professor Arne Astrup, from the Royal Veterinary & Agricultural University in Copenhagen, built a supermarket for a special study to find the secret of appetite control.
Professor Astrup's study focused on being able to eat as much as you want.
He put one group of shoppers on a high protein diet and one on a high carbohydrate diet.
He was surprised to find that the people eating more protein lost significantly more weight.
"The reason they lost more weight was because they consumed fewer calories, despite the fact they had free access to all the food they wanted."
Increasing the amount of meat, fish and eggs in the diet may not only be the answer to our hunger pangs, but the secret to how the Atkins diet works.
Perhaps without realising it, Dr Atkins stumbled across the secret of appetite control, by discovering a high protein diet.
The programme also investigates whether or not the Atkins diet is dangerous.
With no long term studies on the diet, any possible health risks of the diet are, so far, unproven.