South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is a popular fad diet developed by Arthur Agatston and promoted in his bestselling 2003 book.[1][2] It emphasizes eating food with a low glycemic index, and categorizes carbohydrates and fats as "good" or "bad". Like other fad diets,[3] it may have elements which are generally recognized as sensible, but it promises benefits not backed by supporting evidence or sound science.

Technique

The diet has three stages and gradually increases the proportion of carbohydrate consumed as it progresses while simultaneously decreasing the proportions of fat and protein.[4] It includes a number of recommended foods such as lean meats and vegetables and has a concept of "good" (mostly monounsaturated) fats.[4] It makes no restriction on calorie intake, includes an exercise program, and is based around taking three main meals and two snacks per day.

The first stage of the diet aims for rapid weight loss (8 to 13 lbs in two weeks). According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), the severity of the first stage of the diet may result in the loss of some vitamins, minerals and fiber. The NHS reports that dietary restrictions during stage one may cause side effects including "bad breath, a dry mouth, tiredness, dizziness, insomnia, nausea, and constipation." Such symptoms would be rectified once the less extreme phases of the diet then began.[5]..

Health effects

Like other fad diets, the South Beach Diet has been marketed with bold claims that are not supported by evidence and with an unrealistic promise of easy weight loss. The book that promotes it also contains some incorrect and misleading information.[6] Nevertheless, some aspects of the diet correspond with dietary advice that is recognized as sensible:[7] its last two stages are sufficiently nutritious to be considered healthy.[5] Like other high-fat diets, its short-term safety has been established, but its long-term safety has not.[8]

The diet is promoted as improving risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, but the effectiveness for improving these risk factors is unclear because no evidence on its effects is available.[9] A trial found no change in weight loss compared to usual care.[9]

Difference from other low-carb diets

Many sources place the South Beach Diet on lists of "low carb" diets such as the Atkins Diet. While the South Beach diet does prohibit foods rich in simple carbohydrates such as white bread, white potatoes and white rice,[11] it does not require dieters to forgo carbohydrates entirely or even measure their intake. Instead, it focuses on the "glycemic impact" (short term change in blood glucose) of foods. (Nutritionists continue, however, to question the net benefit of the first phase to dieters not affected by impaired glucose metabolism.) Many vegetables are permitted even in phase 1. Complex, fiber-rich carbohydrate sources such as brown rice and 100% whole grain bread are permitted during phase 2. Agatston has tried to distance the South Beach Diet from "low carb" approaches; in the South Beach Diet book he wrote: "It is my purpose to teach neither low-fat nor low-carb. I want you to learn to choose the right fats and the right carbs."[12]

History

The South Beach Diet was developed in the mid-1990s by celebrity doctor Arthur Agatston with the assistance of Marie Almon, the former chief dietitian at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida.[13][14][15] Originally called the Modified Carbohydrate Diet, the plan was renamed the South Beach Diet after the South Beach neighborhood in Miami Beach near Agatston's practice.[14]

The diet plan was initially developed for Agatston's own patients. Agatston noticed that the American Heart Association's recommended low-fat and high-carbohydrate diet was not lowering his patients' weight, cholesterol, or blood sugar levels, but that his patients on the Atkins diet were experiencing weight loss. Unwilling to prescribe the Atkins approach to patients with cardiac issues due to the diet's allowance of

See also

• List of diets
• Low-glycemic index diet
• Online weight loss plans

Further reading