It's a fair bet that most people who jumped onto the Atkins diet signed on for the weight loss, rather than to adjust their blood chemistry.

I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you The Skinny on Your Health.

One researcher was particularly interested in how the Atkins diet had affected things like cholesterol and blood sugar after a year.

He contrasted the Atkins diet to a low-fat, low-calorie diet. About 40 percent of his subjects were diabetic.

While there were distinctions early on, after a year, there were no differences in either weight loss or blood glucose levels between the two diets.

But there was a 17 percent increase in good HDL cholesterol for Atkins dieters at one year, and that's good, and the non-diabetic subjects benefited from a 28 percent decrease in triglycerides, and that's even better.

I've seen the same positive effects in my patients blood work results with some specific carb limitations, without quite the radical restrictions advocated by the Atkins diet. Limiting the simple carbs like sugar and flour makes a difference.

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Caroline J. Cederquist, M.D. is a board certified Family Physician and a board certified Bariatric Physicians (the medical specialty of weight management). Dr. Cederquist is the founder of Bistro M.D., a home diet delivery program that specializes in low calorie gourmet food that is delivered to your home or office. Bistro M.D. serves as culmination of Dr. Cederquist's expertise and experience in the world of medical weight loss.