I’ve been doing the …

I’ve been doing the Atkins diet for a couple of months now and have lost 20 pounds. One of the claims of Atkins is that fat can be good for the body, and when you’re getting low-carb groceries, avoid things that are also low-fat. Here’s a small study that bolsters that.

A relatively high amount of fat in the diet may be a boon to a healthy person’s cholesterol levels, a small study suggests. On the other hand, limiting fat intake too much could have the opposite effect.

Researchers at the State University of New York at Buffalo found that when 11 healthy but sedentary adults followed a very low-fat diet (19 percent of calories from fat) for three weeks, they saw a drop in their HDL cholesterol — the “good” cholesterol believed to protect against heart disease.

In contrast, three weeks on a diet that provided 50 percent of calories from fat boosted participants’ HDL levels, according to findings published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

To circulate in the blood, cholesterol must be attached to a protein, forming a complex called a lipoprotein. HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, molecules carry cholesterol away from the arteries and to the liver to be cleared from the body. Experts believe that an HDL level of 60 or more helps lower the risk of heart disease, while a level lower than 40 raises the risk.

The new findings suggest that adequate fat intake can help ward off heart disease by raising HDL.

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