According to Mayo Clinic, the South Beach Diet is a commercial diet program rather than a doctor-prescribed method to lose weight safely. The diet, created by a cardiologist, focuses on consuming fewer carbohydrates and more protein. The claim behind the South Beach Diet is that you can lose weight and boost your health by adjusting what foods you consume. The claims may be true in the short-term, but some very real dangers may accompany the diet.
Ketoacidosis
Mayo Clinic reports that the South Beach Diet, particularly Phase 1, can cause ketoacidosis, which occurs when your body does not have enough sugar to maintain your energy level. This causes your body to begin using your fat stores for energy, which can lead to unhealthy ketone levels and excess acid. Mayo Clinic cautions that ketoacidosis can cause stupor, coma or, in severe cases, death. Ketoacidosis occurs when you eat only a few grams of carbohydrates each day. Carbohydrates are essential for the maintenance of energy; when you don't consume enough carbohydrates, it changes the chemical composition in your body and may lead to ketoacidosis.
Good and Bad Carbohydrates
The South Beach Diet focuses on reducing the amount of carbohydrates you eat every day, even though it does not claim to be a low-carb diet, report Julie Upton and Jenna Bell-Wilson, authors of "Energy to Burn: The Ultimate Food and Nutrition Guide to Fuel Your Active Life." Restricting the bad carbohydrates in processed foods and packaged sweets is an important part of losing weight and improving health. Good carbohydrates, on the other hand, are healthful food choices that are naturally low in calories and contain many important vitamins and minerals. By restricting good carbohydrates, such as those found in bananas, berries, beans and leafy greens, your body may not obtain the nutrients it needs to sustain and maintain weight loss. The South Beach Diet does not make a strong distinction between good and bad carbohydrates, and as a result, dieters may eliminate foods they actually need to remain healthy.
Excessive Protein
Protein is an essential part of a healthful diet and can help promote weight loss, note Upton and Bell-Wilson. The South Beach Diet encourages large amounts of protein, which comes primarily from meat and dairy foods. Consuming more than the recommended amount of meat and dairy products every day can raise your cholesterol and saturated-fat levels too high, adds Upton and Bell-Wilson. Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet requires you to give up all carbohydrates and focus only on meat, seafood, eggs, cheese, nuts and vegetables. Each of these foods is healthful in moderation, but the South Beach Diet encourages higher consumption than what is generally considered healthful. Combined with the elimination of fruits and grains, the diet may result in an excessive intake of fat and cholesterol.
References
- Mayo Clinic: South Beach Diet
- "Energy to Burn: The Ultimate Food and Nutrition Guide to Fuel Your Active Life"; Julie Upton and Jenna Bell-Wilson; 2009
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