Diet Health

Overview Of The South Beach Diet

May 4, 2009
By J White

The South Beach Diet is a weight loss plan developed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston. His motivation for the development of the diet was to help his overweight heart patient who found it difficult trying to stay on the low-fat diet recommended by the American Heart Association. The success his patients achieved from following his plan led him to promote it to the general public.

To better understand what the plan entails, the following is a general overview of the diet.

Philosophy of the South Beach Diet

The philosophy of the diet has to do with making a distinction between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates, and good fats and bad fats. Good carbohydrates are considered those that have a low glycemic index (GI), while the bad has a high value. The purpose of this is to reduce insulin resistance, that is controlling the sugar spikes that lead to fat being easily stored on your body.

Low glycemic foods are considered to be foods with a GI value below 50, while high GI is considered over 50. The theory behind this is that when you eat foods with a GI above 50, your blood glucose rises, increasing insulin secretion and signaling your body to store part of it as fat.

When the GI value is low, your blood glucose stays low. This signals the release of glycogen, which is converted back into glucose and is burned as energy by your body. As long as glucose levels stay low, fat is burned as energy, as opposed to being stored as fat cells.

As for the fats, the “good” are the unsaturated kind and the “bad” are saturated. The bad fats are associated with the hardening of arteries and build up of bad cholesterol.

Application of the Diet

The South Beach diet is divided into 3 phases, each serving a unique purpose to help you to lose weight and improve your health.

Phase 1: The first phase last 2 weeks and is the strictest part of the diet. During this phase, Agatson claims that dieters can lose 10 or more pounds, which is mostly belly fat.

This phase calls for the elimination of mostly all carbohydrates, both “good” and “bad” from your diet. This means that foods such as pasta, breads, rice, potatoes, milk, anything containing sugar is not to be eaten–and yes, fruit too. In addition, no types of fatty meats are allowed to be eaten.

Total calorie consumption is between 1,200 and 1,400 calories that are divided between 3 meals and two snacks.

Some foods during the first phase are:

Meats: Chicken and turkey breast, lean cuts of beef such as sirloin, all types of fish and shellfish
Vegetables: Artichokes, asparagus, beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, and Zucchini
Fats: canola, olive
Cheese: American, cheddar, low fat cottage cheese, mozzarella, and parmesan

Phase 2: After completing the strict phase 1 of the diet, you are now allowed to start adding back some of the good carbohydrates that have a low GI index. Phase 2 is designed to allow you to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. You are expected to stay on this phase until you have reached your desired weight goal.

The foods you can eat on this phase are the same as phase 1, plus foods such as whole grain cereal, oatmeal, barley, beans, low-fat milk and most fruits. Bananas, raisins, watermelon, white breads, baked goods, honey, ice cream, white rice, potatoes and sugary foods are still not allowed.

Phase 3: Phase 3 is the maintenance phase, which is to be started once you reach your desired weight. On this phase there are no food restrictions. The reason for this is that Agatston believes that you have gained enough knowledge to understand how the South Beach diet interacts with your body. As such, you are free to make decisions on what or how much you should eat of anything.

Agatston also says that if you overindulge, you can start the phases over.

Precautions and Risks

Some dietitians say that the diet may not meet all the nutritional needs of kids, so they should avoid it.

Also, nutritionists question whether the diet provides enough long-term balanced nutrition. Objections in particular are that limiting milk may lead to calcium deficiency, while limiting whole grains may lead to a lack of fiber and vitamin B-complex.

Overall Assessment

Besides the absence of foods in phase 1 that are healthy and nutritious, the diet has the necessary ingredients– namely, lowering your calories– you need to lose weight. However, there is one oversight. Agatston did not mention exercise in his first book. In his latest addition, The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life, he does include some of what he considers core exercises along with walking.

Should you try it? That depends on your likes. If the overall structure of the diet appeals to you, then by all means, go for it.

In the end, dieting is about finding a weight loss plan that you are comfortable with. As long as it includes all the necessary nutrients to ensure good health along with emphasizing the importance of exercise and raises your level of enthusiasm, then you should eagerly adopt it.

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