The South Beach Diet is a low-carbohydrate eating plan that promises quick weight loss. It has three phases. In the first phase, carbohydrates are extremely restricted. In the second phase, which you use until your weight loss goal is met, you can add some restricted foods back. The third phase is used to maintain the weight. If you regain, you go back to the first phase.
Cuts Out Healthy Foods
You eliminate almost all carbs--including fruits--during the first phase to show quick weight loss. "Any time you take out a whole, healthy food group you take out good antioxidants," says Judy D. Simon, registered dietitian at the University of Washington Family Medicine Department. "You lose out on a lot of good stuff." Antioxidants protect your cells from free radicals, which are cell-damaging molecules produced when your body is exposed to environmental problems like tobacco smoke or radiation. They are also produced when your body breaks down food.
Diet Can Backfire
An extremely restrictive diet can lead you to ditch the effort. That's because it is difficult to sustain over the long term. Sadly, the weight comes back after you quit trying so much, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because you have not learned to eat healthfully, you are likely to return to your bad habits, Simon says. In contrast, learning to eat slow-energy release carbs as well as carbs with a higher nutrient density makes more sense than restricting carbs altogether.
Too Many Artificial Ingredients
The diet also relies heavily on artificial sweeteners. In fact, many prepared foods are loaded with preservatives, Simon says. Artificial sweeteners can lead to irritable bowel syndrome, gas and diarrhea if consumed too frequently, according to both the Mayo Clinic and the Harvard Medical School. Many nutritionists, including Caren Weiner, a dietitian with the University of Massachussets Health Services, advise you to avoid artificial sweeteners and instead cut back on sugar, honey and other natural sweeteners in your diet.
Ketoacidosis
Other consequences can be more medically severe. The diet's first phase brings carbs so low that you can risk ketoacidosis, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Ketoacidosis happens when your body does not have enough glucose. Glucose is produced when you digest carbohydrates and is the body's primary source of energy. With ketoacidosis, your body breaks down stored fat for energy instead, causing unhealthy levels of ketones and acid to build in the body. This can lead to a stupor, a coma--or, in an extreme case--death.
Medical Concerns
Another risk is not knowing about important medical concerns you may have. That is why you need to schedule a medical evaluation with your doctor before jumping into the plan. If you have diabetes, heart disease, kidney problems or gall bladder problems, you must be careful in starting a diet, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Take less severe health issues into account, too. For example, if you suffer constipation you do not want to cut fiber-rich foods like fruit from your diet. The Mayo Clinic recommends you tailor your weight-loss diet to your own goals, your body's needs and your own specific health conditions instead of following a generic diet.
Lack of Exercise
The diet also de-emphasizes physical activity, according to the Mayo Clinic, which can cause you to regain weight. A University of Colorado at Denver study published in the July 2009 "American Journal of Physiology" concluded that exercise prevents an increase in the number of fat cells after a weight loss program. Likewise, people who successfully keep weight off share a number of common characteristics, including a program of regular exercise, according to the National Weight Control Registry.
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