The South Beach diet is a popular diet developed by a cardiologist, Arthur Agatston of Miami. It was originally intended to help his patients avoid or improve cardiovascular disease, with weight loss as a secondary aim.

What Is It?

The South Beach diet is based around the idea that there are good and bad carbohydrates and good and bad fats. It does not count calories and you are expected to eat until you are satisfied, but you are restricted on what foods you can eat. It also rates foods according to their sugar content (the glycemic index).

‘Bad fats’ (mainly saturated fats and trans fats) are to be avoided because of their alleged contribution to heart disease, which has been widely researched. This means cutting down on high fat meats and dairy products, replacing them with lean meats, oily fish and olive oil.

‘Bad carbohydrates’ are the quickly absorbed high glycemic index carbs such as sugar and refined grains (white flour, white rice etc). They are replaced with whole grains and high fiber foods, plus fruit in limited quantities.

There are three phases to the diet. Phase 1 is the most restrictive, lasting 2 weeks. Almost all carbohydrates are avoided in this first phase, including fruit. At this point the diet may seem a little like the Atkins diet but this is only for a limited 14 day period. A person might lose 8-13 pounds during these 2 weeks.

More foods are added back into the diet in phase 2. You will stay on phase 2 until you meet your weight target, hopefully losing 1-2 pounds per week during this time. Phase 3 is a maintenance plan, more flexible still, that you can use when you are at your ideal weight.

South Beach encourages dieters to eat 6 times a day (3 meals plus 3 snacks) and to eat more non-starchy vegetables.

Why Does It Work?

The first phases probably induces ketosis in the same way that the Atkins diet does. In the absence of carbohydrates the body uses its fat reserves for energy.

Beyond that, the addition of more fiber into the diet is good for us. The standard American or Western diet often does not contain even the minimum of fiber. Fiber also helps us to lose weight because it is a bulky substance that is not easily absorbed by the body. It fills us up while containing very few calories.

This means that although you are not consciously restricting calories on the South Beach diet, you are likely to reduce your calorie intake automatically, just because you will be filling your stomach with bulky, low calorie foods.

Switching to a diet containing more vegetables is likely to provide more of the essential minerals than most people have in their diets right now. This also increases satisfaction so that we will stop eating sooner. Often, people overeat partly because on a high fat diet they cannot get the nutrients they need without consuming a huge number of calories.

Also, research has shown that eating frequent, smaller meals is often better for weight loss than restricting yourself to 2 or 3 meals per day. So there are many factors which make the South Beach diet work for many people.

Any Negatives?

Although there are vegetarian options, strict vegetarians and vegans may find the first two weeks difficult, as may people who have a very active lifestyle. There is not much emphasis on exercise in this program.

Artificial sweeteners are accepted and even recommended on the diet. Some of these have health risks in themselves and using them will keep you in the habit of having sweet tasting foods, so you are likely to still crave sugar and candy.

If you have been on the standard Western diet, your food costs might increase a little because healthy food tends to cost more. Replacing junk food with fresh vegetables can increase the grocery bill. However, you will probably save on items like candy and alcohol (a little red wine is allowed in the later phases, but that is all).

It has the reputation of being a faddy, celebrity-driven diet but this may just be because of the name and the hype that it has had. Overall the South Beach diet is a good healthy weight loss plan for many people.

The Atkins diet is a low carbohydrate diet developed by Dr Robert C Atkins in the 1970s. Dr Atkins wrote many books and did refine the diet later, but in the beginning it focused on cutting out almost all carbohydrates regardless of where they came from.

It is also known as the high protein diet, because in the absence of carbs we have to get our calories from proteins and fats. It is set up in structured phases, with the first being the most restricted, as is normal for most diets. Some people skip the first phase (the induction).

Why Does It Work?

When we are eating a lot of carbs, the sugars in them require the body to produce a lot of insulin. These levels of insulin help the body to convert a lot of food into fat in the form of triglycerides. This is stored in the body, making us gain weight.

However, if there are no carbs available, the body will switch to a system called ketosis where it can create energy directly from fats. This creates ketones which suppress the appetite (we quickly feel we have eaten enough, or do not feel very hungry and use our fat reserves for energy).

In order to bring on ketosis we have to eat less than 40 grams of carbohydrate in a day. To give you an idea of how little this is, the average person on a standard Western diet consumes around 300 grams per day. 40 grams is about 2 small bananas, or 3-4 slices of bread, or less than 1 cup of cooked brown rice.

For people who like meat and dairy foods the Atkins diet can be a refreshing change from other weight loss programs. This can help motivate you to stick with the diet.

Any Negatives?

You have to get used to a whole new way of figuring out what to eat. It involves taking account of the number of grams of carbohydrate that are in everything.

The diet can be boring and many people do not get enough variety or essential nutrients while following it. This can be overcome by making an effort to include more vegetables and/or supplements, but Dr Atkins does not tend to focus on these points as much as he might.

Many Atkins dieters eat a lot of saturated fat which research has shown can contribute to heart disease and other conditions. It seems likely that some people’s bodies do better on a low carb, high protein diet, but other people’s do not. You should speak to your doctor before starting and have your cholesterol levels monitored regularly while you are following the Atkins diet.

Low carb dieting has become fashionable in recent years especially with the publication of the Atkins diet. Losing weight is a goal for so many people and everybody is looking for the quick and easy way to lose weight. Some people do not need to lose weight at all but still get stressed over a couple of pounds. Others need to lose for medical reasons and may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to shed.

There are many different diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This does not mean always doing what the diet says every moment of every day. What is more important is how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or feast on foods that are not on the plan. If you can write this off and return to the plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are likely to succeed. Everybody has those days – the important thing is to let them go and accept them as just another step on the road to permanent weight loss.

It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are quite simple. As the name suggests, the diet consists of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Sugar is also a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that avoid them.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is based on the fact that the dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high intake of saturated fats. Medical advice is advised before starting this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but people cannot handle the restrictions in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.

One of the problems that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of bread and pasta. No more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Many of the foods that are quickest to prepare are based around carbohydrates – burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in carbs too. It is true that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and very low in nutritional value, but low carb diets put particular emphasis on this.

Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you are fond of meat you will relish the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. It is just a matter of what suits you. Low carb dieting works for many people.