"The
South Beach Diet:
What's right and what's wrong?"
By Christian Finn
The South Beach Diet is the latest diet promising to help you lose weight,
lower your cholesterol, reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes,
and get rid of cravings without feeling hungry.
"The South Beach Diet is not low-carb," writes author Dr.
Arthur Agatston. "The South Beach Diet teaches you to rely on the
right carbs and the right fats ò the good ones ò and enables you to
live quite happily without the bad carbs and bad fats. As a result,
you're going to get healthy and lose weight ò somewhere between 8 and
13 pounds in the next 2 weeks alone."
Does it work? Let's take a closer look at what the South Beach Diet
has to offer.
The diet is divided into three different phases.
During Phase I, you're not allowed to eat foods such as bread, rice,
potatoes, pasta or baked goods. No fruit, even. Not surprisingly, candy,
cake, cookies, ice cream and alcohol are also off the menu. This is
the strictest part of the diet and lasts for two weeks only.
In Phase II of the South Beach Diet, you gradually introduce more carbohydrates
ò including some types of fruit, sweet potatoes, whole grain bread,
whole grain rice, and whole wheat pasta ò into your diet
You remain in Phase II and continue losing weight until you reach your
goal. How long it takes depends on how much weight you need to lose.
By Phase III, you should be at your ideal weight. At this point, the
South Beach Diet is supposed to have become a way of living and eating
that you can sustain for the rest of your life.
A typical day on the South Beach Diet might start with a two-egg omelet
with asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, or peppers, cooked in a spray of
olive oil. When lunch rolls around, you may have a salad ò lettuce and
tomato mixed with grilled chicken or fish, dressed in a vinaigrette
made with olive oil.
A snack might consist of plain almonds, cashews or pistachios, while
dinner is based on fresh vegetables, fish, and lean meats. Phase I,
for example, features dishes such as grilled salmon with lemon, roasted
eggplant and a salad, or chicken made with balsamic vinegar.
One of the main attractions of The South Beach Diet is the claim that
it will help you beat your cravings without feeling hungry. "Nothing
undermines a weight-loss plan more," says Agatston, "than
the distressing sensation that you need more food." That's why
the South Beach Diet includes ample amounts of fat and protein, which
help control your appetite to a greater extent than refined carbohydrates.
In one of the most recent trials to compare calorie-restricted diets
of varying protein content (15 or 30% of total calories), both groups
lost weight. But the high-protein group reported more satisfaction and
less hunger than the high-carbohydrate group.
In fact, two subjects in the high-carbohydrate group dropped out because
they were fed up feeling hungry all the time.
Replacing some of the carbohydrate in your diet with fat can also make
it easier for you to lose weight and keep it off for longer. In a study
of 101 overweight men and women, half were instructed to eat a low fat
diet (20% calories from fat) and half to eat a moderate fat diet (35%
calories from fat, mostly from peanut butter, nuts, olive oil and avocados).
Eighteen months later, the average weight loss in the group consuming
the moderate fat diet was nine pounds. In contrast, the group consuming
the low fat diet had gained over six pounds. Moreover, 8 out of 10 subjects
on the low fat diet quit after 18 months, compared to only 5 out of
10 on the moderate fat diet.
The bottom line is that the South Beach Diet is one of the better weight
loss diets around at the moment. It's
relatively simple, and doesn't rely on complex menus, supplements taken
at certain times of day, or foods eaten in precise combinations. That
said, the book does perpetuate a few popular nutrition myths.
In Phase I, for example, author Dr. Agatston recommends that you should
"only choose foods with a low glycemic index."
Even in Phase II, foods like carrots and bananas are classed as Foods
to Avoid or Eat Rarely because of their glycemic index. That's despite
the fact there are more than a few problems with the assumptions and
experimental methods used to develop the glycemic index.
You're also supposed to lose 8-13 pounds during Phase I of the diet.
However, much of this will come from stored carbohydrate and water,
rather than fat. Of course, the South Beach Diet ò just like any diet
ò will work a lot better when you combine it with a proper program of
resistance and aerobic exercise.
Remember too that the most important part of any diet designed for weight
loss is to consume fewer calories than you burn. Don't believe anyone
who says you can eat an unlimited amount of food and still lose weight.
*****
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