Meticulous analysis of the daily food menus for the three principle phases of the Atkins Nutritional Approach reveals a very balanced intake of fats. This happens naturally with whole food selections because nature, in its wisdom, presents fats in whole foods in such a manner.
Many, many studies have been done in the past several years using the protocol of the Induction Phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach and we now have a fair amount of hard data to demonstrate that consuming as much as 60% of calories as fat on a low-carbohydrate regimen does not constitute a health hazard at all and may in fact have a number of benefits. For example, the positive change in LDL particle size, HDL (good, protective) cholesterol increased twice the amount, resulting in a significantly improved cholesterol risk profile, and the subjects also experienced a large drop in triglycerides, leading to a superb triglyceride: HDL ratio.
When triglycerides are high and HDL is low, it has been shown in studies to be a significant marker and predictor for cardiovascular disease, Atkins Induction phase has consistently corrected this. It is the position of the Atkins Nutritional Approach that all three types of fats are necessary and important to human health and should be incorporated into the diet in a balanced proportion. It is also the position of the Atkins Nutritional Approach that saturated fat, particularly in the early phases of ANA when carbohydrate intake is very low, is not dangerous to human health. On the contrary, when balanced with mono and poly-unsaturated fats in a controlled carbohydrate dietary environment, saturated fat may actually have real and measurable benefits in a number of different arenas.
