South Beach Diet

Contrary to common perceptions, the South Beach Diet has nothing to do with hanging around a beach and munching seaside delicacies. In effect, the South Beach Diet is a straight forward and simple diet plan promoted by a cardiologist Arthur Agatston who decided to create a diet aimed at perking up the cholesterol and insulin levels of his patients suffering from cardiac ailments. Presently, the South Beach Diet has turned out to be more prevalent than Agatston’s original diet plan as now it not only augments the levels of cholesterol and insulin, but also aids in losing weight.

Objective

The original endeavor of the South Beach Diet was to free your diet of all sorts of carbohydrates and fats that are not only hazards for people suffering from heart disease, but also lead to weight gain. In effect, the diet is founded on the objective that high glucemic (concentration of glucose) carbohydrates or ‘bad carbs’ that result to weight gain need to be avoided. As these sorts of simple carbohydrates is easily digested resulting to sugar spikes and leaving the body with high insulin levels. The surplus insulin reduces the blood sugar levels resulting to people yearning for more simple carbs (slang for carbohydrates) and this result to a never-ending cycle of longings and indulgences.

Hence, the diet distinguishes between ‘good’ carbohydrates and ‘bad’ carbohydrates and asserts that by reducing the ‘bad’ carbs in diet, one would be able to lessen the body’s cholesterol and insulin levels eventually resulting to weight loss. The South Beach Diet advocates that people on diet should intake more low-glucemic carbs like whole grains and vegetables that take much longer time to digest, use up more energy as they break down and never causes futile hunger.

Phases

The South Beach Diet is basically divided into three phases – each of them becoming ever more tolerant and helpful in losing weight.

Phase I: This part of the diet plan last for two weeks and is aimed at doing away with the hunger cycle and help in notable weight loss. During this period of the diet plan, the system gets rid of all sugars, processed carbohydrates, fruits and even some bad carb vegetables. Although ‘Phase I’ of the South Beach Diet only lasts for a fortnight, it is said to be the severest period. Individuals undertaking the diet plan are expected to shun almost all types of carbohydrates from their diet and are not permitted to eat any high glycemic carbohydrates like rice, bread, pastries, pasts, potatoes, fruits, alcohol, candy, sugar or ice cream. In contrast, they are allowed to eat protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, lean meats, shellfish, nuts, cheese, eggs, vegetables and olive oil. The suggested food during this phase includes vegetables, excluding potatoes, roasted over oven and brushed with olive oil.

Phase II: This period of South Beach Diet may continue for as long as the person on diet wishes to lose weight or achieve their target weight. This is a lesser restrictive phase during which good carbs like brown rice, pasta, sweet potatoes, fruits, vegetables and some whole grains are restored in the diet. In fact, consumption of wine and chocolate within limits is also permitted during phase II of the South Beach Diet and the dieter may experience weight loss of one to two pounds every week. The suggested food during this period may include stir-fried broccoli and chicken with lemon and couscous.

Phase III: This phase is known as the maintenance period and begins when a dieter has achieved the target weight. This final phase continues throughout one’s life and does not include any list of permitted or prohibited foods, but allows the dieter to comprehend the fundamental rules of the diet plan and abide by those principles. During this period, the South Beach Diet becomes more of a part of the dieter’s life than a diet as the good carbs have already been reintroduced to the diet and the desires for bad carbs have been eliminated.

Recipes

The usual South Beach recipes for breakfast may comprise two eggs and lean bacon. South Beach recipes for lunch may include salad greens with grilled chicken, while an afternoon snack may consist of a small amount of dry-roasted nuts. South Beach recipes for dinner can include lean meat again with fiber-rich vegetables, while cheese and low-fat yogurt is permitted for dessert. Advocators of this diet plan claim that at the end of the first phase, most individuals lose weight between eight to 14 pounds. Interestingly, the weight loss does not occur owing to eating less, but as a result of eliminating the simple carbohydrates that breaks the bad eating cycle.

South Beach Vs Atkins

It is interesting to note that the South Beach Diet and Atkins diet begins in a very comparable way, as both include a two-week initiation phase that strictly prohibits consumption of carbohydrates. However, once the initiation period is over, the South Beach Diet differs with the Atkins diet in two noteworthy manners. While the South Beach Diet does not impose any restriction on ‘good’ carbs, but prohibits ‘bad’ fats, the Atkins diet doesn’t allow any type of carb. In contrast, the Atkins diet recommends unrestricted amounts of food rich in saturates (saturated fats) like cheese, butter and cream, the South Beach Diet stresses on a diet containing low saturates. In addition, the Atkins diet is harsh as far as consumption of carbohydrates is concerned and even restricts many fruits and vegetables. Contrarily, the South Beach Diet encourages a diet comprising fruits, vegetables and other low glycaemic carbohydrates. In the longer run, South Beach Diet is said to be better than Atkins diet provided one is able to tolerate the restrictions during the first phase of the diet plan.

Disadvantages

All said and done, the South Beach Diet has its disadvantages too. The first phase of the diet requires tremendous will power to continue with the diet plan. While some of the suggested South Beach recipes may take lots of time to prepare, the strict restriction on carbohydrates during the Phase I may leave the dieter feeble and unsteady. Besides, in the absence of adequate fruits and vegetable during the first two weeks may lead to insufficient vitamin and mineral supplies to the body. Also shunning all foods rich in carbohydrates during Phase I may deprive the dieter of some valuable fiber, vitamins and minerals.