South Beach Diet - Benefits and Drawbacks
There are a lot of diets out there these days that promise quick weight loss with no deprivation, but the South Beach Diet is one of the few that actually fits that bill. Originally designed by Dr. Arthur Agatston , a cardiologist, for his heart patients, it's become a tried-and-true diet plan that is no fad. In fact, you can stick to it for life and health as well as weight loss.
One of the main factors in the South Beach Diet's success is that it utilizes the glycemic index to help control hunger. That is, by following the diet and eating mostly foods that are low in the glycemic index, you maintain blood sugar levels and therefore reduce your hunger for "simple" carbohydrates like sugars and sweets.
The diet in three phases, during which you wean yourself off of certain foods and focus on South Beach Diet friendly foods. You can also lose up to eight to 12 pounds in the first two weeks, as long as you follow those guidelines.
Basic benefits
Medical science actually supports this diet, because it focuses on "clean" eating, and it's full of lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and "good for you" fats, while minimizing or eliminating refined sugars, trans fats, and saturated fats.
Are there any drawbacks?
The first part of the diet, Phase I, has you severely restricting your carbohydrates, for the first two weeks. This also includes limiting intake of fruits and vegetables, by the way, so you won't be getting all the nutrients you need. You'll also likely experience difficulties because of the lack of fiber in this particular phase of the diet.
Nonetheless, if you can get through this first two weeks, you'll move on to the second phase of the diet, which is less restrictive. It might also be said that because you so severely limit your intake of certain foods during the first phase (namely, carbohydrates), you're going to clean your palate so that you're not going to be craving junk foods, refined sweets, etc., and can move on to the second phase fully ready to stick to it.
What happens with the rest of the diet
In the second phase of the diet, you're going to add certain foods back into your diet you had to avoid during Phase I. Because you've "cleared your palate," you're not going to be craving these foods as much, and you'll be able to eat them in moderation, though not as much as you could before.
The final phase, Phase III, is the maintenance part of the diet and is meant to be something you'll follow for the rest of your life. It's the least restrictive and is simply meant to utilize basic guidelines that will have you limiting certain foods and focusing on others so that you maintain rather than lose weight.
The results
The South Beach Diet is in fact a very good diet for the most part, and just about anyone can follow it. Because it severely restrict your access to what is mostly "junk" food, while focusing on an intake of "good" foods like lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and "good" carbohydrates and fats, it is certainly a healthy plan to follow and it doesn't so severely restrict calories or food groups (other than during Phase I) that you are at risk of deficiencies. Weight loss is generally sensible, with a focus of about one to two pounds weight loss after the first phase (which promises up to 12 pounds of weight loss), and medical professionals support this plan in general. All in all, a good sound diet that can be followed for life after the first phase, and that focuses on good healthy foods and sensible rather than extreme weight loss.
There are a lot of diets that can be described as being amongst the best diets and a lot of these diets promise that it is possible to lose weight quickly. The south beach diet is one of the diets that is often referred to as being amongst the best diets. A doctor who was known as Arthur Agatston first designed this diet and he was a cardiologist. This doctor developed this diet for the patients that he used to see with heart problems. Over time this diet has become a tried and tested regime, and this is not one of the many fad diets which are around. It is possible to stick to this diet for life as a way of promoting good health as well as a method for losing weight.
One of the main reasons why the south beach diet can be described as being one of the best diets is that it makes good use of the glycemic diet. This is a good way to keep hunger under control. This diet works best when the person follows it and eats mainly the foods that are low on the glycemic index as this will help you to maintain the level of sugar in your blood. This helps to reduce your level of hunger for simple carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates include items such as sweets and sugars.
The south beach diet actually consists of three different phases. During these phases you basically wean yourself away from certain foods and focus on the foods that are better for you and form part of this diet. This diet is considered to be one of the best diets as it is possible to lose between eight pounds and twelve pounds within your first couple of weeks.
There are a number of benefits that can be obtained from following this diet. This diet is considered to be one of the best diets and is supported by medical science. The diet focuses on clean eating therefore it consists of eating lean proteins, vegetables, fruit and also the fats that are actually good for the body. This diet also involves eliminating or at least reducing the amount of refined sugars, saturated fats and trans fats that are within the diet.
The first phase of this diet involves you restricting the amount of carbohydrates that you eat. This has to be done rigorously in order for the diet to work. This phase of the diet will also involve limiting the amount of vegetables and fruit that you are consuming. Therefore, during this time you will be lacking some required nutrients and you may experience some difficulties due to the lack of fiber that is in the diet. The first phase of this diet only lasts for two weeks and then you can progress onto the second phase.
The second phase of this diet is actually less restrictive. Due to the severely limited foods during the first phase you will probably have cleansed your palate therefore you will probably not crave the so-called junk foods. During the second phase of the diet you will be adding certain foods back into your diet and your cleansed palate will mean that you are happy to eat these foods within moderation. The third phase of this diet really sets you up to follow the diet that you have started. This part is really the least restrictive part of the diet. These three phases are the process to losing weight using one of the best diets that are available.
