Atkins Diet and Cardiovascular Risk – Low Carb Diets Raise HDL

For years, the prevailing view among medical authorities has been that the Atkins Diet is dangerous. Foster discovered significantly greater increases in HDL cholesterol levels (good cholesterol), drastically lowered triglycerides, and no change in LDL cholesterol levels (bad cholesterol) than the low-fat diet plan. Despite healthy cholesterol levels, Foster questioned whether the effects would continue throughout a maintenance program. Current Scientific Study on the Atkins Diet, Cholesterol, and Heart Disease Although Foster’s previous one-year study found the Atkins Diet to have beneficial effects on cholesterol and heart disease, his most recent diet-study results published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Verses Low-Fat Diet,” HDL is known as good cholesterol because it picks up the LDL cholesterol and carries it back to the liver to be recycled or removed from the body. Since HDL’s job is to rid the body of excess bad cholesterol, the higher the HDL level, the greater the health benefits. Although initial scientific studies found these weight loss diets to result in healthy cholesterol levels, it was thought that following a low-carb diet long-term posed serious risks to the dieter. After following the Atkins Diet for 2 years, participants still showed increased HDL, lowered triglycerides, and normal LDL levels or less. Raising HDL cholesterol levels improves the body’s ability to eliminate excess LDL cholesterol, thus improving cholesterol and heart disease risks. For further information on the effects of the Atkins Diet on LDL levels, read If having trouble understanding the differences between LDL and VLDL cholesterol, and their individual roles in healthy cholesterol levels, might be of help.