South Beach Diet - Understanding What it is

Return to... Page 1

The fats that the South Beach Diet recommends are almost the exact copy of the fats that are promoted by the American Heart Association. The most dangerous and restricted fat type would be any hydrogenated fats or trans-fats which are fats that are used in manufactured by food industries specifically to increase the shelf life of their food products. Studies have shown a direct link between hydrogenated fat with increases in coronary heart disease by directly raising the level of Low Density Cholesterol in your body. Another fat to be avoided are saturated fats. Saturated fats mostly occur in fats derived from animal meats or milk. Examples of these would be fats from lard or butter and even ones from coconut oils or even palm oils. Fats that can be eaten in moderation are foods which are rich in unsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids. Examples of foods with unsaturated fats are nuts and some vegetable rats like olives and corn. Omega 3 fatty acids come mostly from fatty fish such as tuna and salmon.

In addition to simply controlling fat intake, the South Beach Diet also pays attention to the types of carbohydrates that you take in for the slimming diet process. Dr. Agatston defines two groups of carbohydrates, namely good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates. Bad carbohydrates are the ones that will be digested very quickly by the body and turned into sugar within a very short amount of time. Good carbohydrates are ones that take a longer time to digest and provide the body with a slow release of sugar over time and not trigger a peak in sugar that we discussed earlier. Examples of bad carbohydrates would be food made with highly processed flour like bread or polished rice and noodles while good carbohydrates will be leafy greens, brown rice or anything that has a high amount of natural fibers inside to slow the digestion process.

In addition to controlling the intake of both fats and carbohydrates, if you were to follow the diet plan exactly then there are actually different phases that you have to go through which dictates the foods that you are allowed to eat. The first phase will last for two weeks and is the strictest phase of all. This phase calls for a reduction of almost all normal staple carbohydrates like pastas or rice foods. You will eat normal portions of lean meats and fish and also be supplemented with low glycemic-value vegetables. The initial shock of the low carbohydrate intake is to wean you off the need for carbohydrates and get your body back to normal insulin resistance levels if you were slightly resistant to insulin before. If this is your first diet and you are a normal sedentary individual then you can expect to lose anywhere from 5-10 pounds from this stage alone.

The second phase is slightly more forgiving and is much easier to follow especially if you have just completed the first phase. In this phase some of the banned foods are re-introduced into your diet but in much smaller amounts. You will be able to eat carbohydrates again but this only from the group that is classified as “good carbohydrates”. The amount of carbohydrates that you eat is still limited and the majority of the calories you will receive will still come from lean meats and vegetables. The goal of the second phase is to re-adjust your body back to meals with carbohydrates but not allow those spikes in sugar and insulin to happen again. You will still a slight weight loss in this phase, generally 1-2 pounds lost per week.

Continue to... Page 3