One of the famous diets to lose weight is ‘South Beach Diet’ and it was created by Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist in the year 2003. He has also outlined and described it in his very successful book, ‘The South Beach Diet’. The South Beach Diet is not a medically prescribed by the doctor; it’s just a commercial weight-loss diet program.
The South Beach Diet is named after a charismatic place of Miami and sometimes it is also called as diet of modified low-carbohydrate. The South Beach Diet contains higher proportion of healthy fats and proteins and lower proportion of carbohydrates. In general, it’s not at all a strict diet of low-carbohydrates.
Purpose:
The aim of the South Beach Diet is to bring a modification in the overall food balance that you consume to encourage a healthy and positive lifestyle which will also help you to lose weight. It says that it’s the healthy way to consume food whether one wants to shed weight or not.
Why to go for the South Beach Diet?
The South Beach Diet has different attractive features that one might find suitable. Those features are:
- Take pleasure of the amount and type of food present in your diet
- It provides you with a diet that restricts certain fats & carbohydrates and helps you in losing weight
- Helps you in changing your complete eating habits
- Its encourages you to stick with this diet
- Products related to the South Beach Diet are also easily available. Such as diet foods and cookbooks
Refer your doctor before starting any diet for losing weight, especially if one has any health problems.
Specific Aspect of Diet:
The South Beach diet helps in balancing the healthy fats, good carbohydrates and lean proteins and creates fiber-rich, nutrient-dense diet that one can follow to maintain a healthy balanced diet. It effectively teaches you to eliminate “bad” carbohydrates from your food. A diet containing high proportion of glycemic index is known as bad carbohydrates. These foods tend to increase the sugar level present in blood in a higher and faster rate than foods containing lower index. Some evidences and facts show that the increase in sugar level in blood boosts your hunger which leads in increasing your diet and resulting in gaining weight.
The South Beach Diet teaches about various kinds of dietary fats. It also encourages to limit the use of saturated and Trans fats which is unhealthy and supports you to consume healthy food containing mono-saturated fats. It emphasizes on the benefits procured by whole grains and fiber which includes vegetables and fruits in the daily eating plan.
Carbohydrates:
The South Beach Diet comprises of low carbohydrate compared to any other typical diet. But certainly more than strict low carbohydrate diet as it restricts carbohydrate intake as 50-100 grams per day. By following South Beach Diet, you can also control daily carbohydrate intake which helps in maintaining and losing weight.
Exercise:
The South Beach diet has been evolving over time to provide maximum satisfaction to its users. But to achieve maximum result one has to do proper exercise. Regular exercise boosts your overall health and metabolism and helps in weight loss. Thus, the South Beach Diet along with proper exercise helps you to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
3-Step Process of the South Beach Diet:
The South Beach Diet consists of three phases.
- Step 1: This is a two-week long phase that is specifically designed to eliminate the desire to consume food and it is the first step to lose weight. It cuts out most of the carbohydrates, from the diet, particularly sugars and starches, including rice, bread, fruit and pasta. You are prohibited to drink any alcohol or fruit juice. You need to focus on eating low protein foods such as skinless poultry, soy products, lean beef and seafood. You can also have low-fat dairy product, high-fiber vegetables and foods which contain unsaturated and healthy fats such as seeds, nuts, and avocadoes.
- Step 2: It is a long phase targeted towards further weight loss process. Here you can take some of the foods that were previously banned such as whole-wheat pasta, fruits, brown rice, whole-grain breads, and more vegetables. You have to continue this phase until you achieve your desired weight.
- Step 3: In this phase, you have to maintain your overall health and eat nutritious food to lead a healthy life. But you have to follow the lifestyle and diet that you have maintained in the previous phases. Now you are allowed to consume most of the food that one wants, including the occasional indulgences.
The Whole Day Menu for South Beach Diet:
Here is the menu what you have to eat while following the Step 1 of the South Beach Diet.
- Breakfast: Breakfast can contain asparagus omelet fried with goat cheese, coffee or tea, artichokes Benedict, spinach or ham.
- Lunch: In lunch, one can have beef salad, stir-fried shrimp, iced tea or sparkling water.
- Dinner: Dinner might contain flank steak or sesame salmon that is grilled along with a vegetable dish and salad.
- Dessert: This diet allows you to take the pleasure of dessert; it can be custard of chilled espresso or ricotta cheesecake.
- Snacks: You can have some snacks during this diet, such as Turkey roll-up and Muenster cheese or some mix of spicy nut.
Results:
Weight loss
According to South Beach diet, you can lose up to 8-13 pounds during phase-1 in two weeks. Most of your weight shed from the mid section. During phase-2, you can lose up to two pounds in a week.
Health Benefits
It promotes healthy changes while directing weight loss. According to some research, an eating plan which is long term in nature should be rich in dietary fats and healthy carbohydrates to improve health. Low carbohydrate diets and healthy fats together may improve the level of blood cholesterol.
Risks
If you are following the typical South Beach diet then it is safe for your body. You should not restrict carbohydrates severely to avoid health problem like Ketosis which leads to nausea, weakness, dizziness, and dehydration.