[ppaul]

Everyone I knew on the Atkins diet had their bad cholesterol and triglycerides skyrocket while on it.

You are perpetrating an urban legend.
My levels all went down to where they should be.
Every doctor I have talked to thinks the diet is great.
Most of the physicians in Seattle's Swedish Hospital emergency surgery unit are purportedly on the diet.
For many folks, it is the ONLY way they have ever been able to lose weight - and keep it off.
Before you knock it, read the book.

[ARepublican]

Also, Atkins states in his book that your cholesterol will initially spike upwards and then will begin to decrease as the diet progresses.