>True - but the Atkins diet lets people eat more foods, such as eggs and
>cheese, that are supposed to be bad for your blood chemistry

Yes and research has now proven some of the past myths about eggs and cheese
products to be unfounded. Following is a slightly lengthy statement on eggs
that I thought you might find interesting if you want to take the time to read
it.
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Eggs have a great nutritional wealth. To have eggs in our diet give us many
nutritional profits for our health. However, during the 60s an overstated
fear to cholesterol spread throughout the world owing to the risk to suffer
cardiovascular conditions. Egg consumption was significantly reduced in Western
countries due to its high content of cholesterol.

Afterwards, many researches about this issue stated that only 20% of people
suffer an increase of plasmatic cholesterol after a large intake of dietetic
cholesterol. On the one hand, there are other factors that may affect to
cholesterolemia such as genetic causes, low or fast intestine transit,
sedentary lifestyle and obesity. On the other hand, there are other factors
that can help to absorb cholesterol such as fibre intake, phytosterol and other
sterols from sea animals.

Results of researches conducted in nutritional epidemiology during the last
years showed a low increase in plasmatic cholesterol levels when modifying the
intake of dietetic cholesterol. The largest research carried on epidemiology
(118,000 men and women) to analyse the relationship between egg consumption and
cardiovascular conditions showed that eating one egg a day had no significant
impact in mortality of these processes4. The effect of a consumption of 3, 7
and 14 eggs a week was measured in three groups of healthy young people. After
five months managing their diet, there were no important differences in
plasmatic lipids. Healthy adults were also tested but adding 2 eggs a day. In
six weeks the test showed that HDL cholesterol had increased 10%, total
cholesterol 4% and the ratio total cholesterol / HDL cholesterol remain the
same. On the other hand researches conducted by Kerver et al. showed that
people who ate more than four eggs a week had lower seric cholesterol than
people who usually eat one (or less than one) egg a week.

Restrictions in egg consumption and considering eggs as dangerous food owing to
cholesterol have not been suggested by comprehensive scientific researches made
in this sense the last two decades2. To reduce cardiovascular risk it is more
important to fight obesity, to limit the intake of total and saturated fats and
to change the lifestyle of Western societies, especially sedentary lifestyle.

Recent researches report that eggs are also an available source of carotenoids
(luteine, zeaxanthene). These antioxidant compounds can help to prevent macular
degeneration and to delay the appearance of cataracts.