How The South Beach Diet Works

The South Beach Diet, which was named after a glamorous beach in south Florida, was created by cardiologist, Arthur Agatston in 2003. Dr Agatston envisioned his diet as a nutritional program that people can stay on for life to maintain their desired weight. The South Beach Diet is a modified low-carbohydrate, low-sugar diet that is supposed to modify the source from which your body derives energy. Instead of using carbohydrates for energy, your body is supposed to begin to burn fat instead.

Function

MayoClinic.com outlines that the South Beach Diet, and other low carbohydrate diets, aim to minimize the maximum amount of carbohydrates that go into your body in order to lower your insulin levels. If your carbohydrate content is drastically lower, your body will start burning fat as energy and, as a result, it may reduce the amount of stored fat. You are encouraged to actually increase your consumption of healthy fats while you lower your carbohydrate content, so your body does not feel deprived and has an alternative source to use for energy.

Phase 1

During phase 1 of the South Beach Diet you are encouraged to eliminate almost all carbohydrates from your diet. You are restricted from eating any fruit, bread or starchy vegetables. You are only allowed to derive approximately 10 percent of your total calories from carbohydrates per day. This two week phase is strict in order to begin to transform your body into a fat burning machine that is not reliant on carbohydrates for energy. You are encouraged to focus on consuming lean meats and high protein. The 10 percent of carbohydrates that you can consume are supposed to be obtained from healthy carbohydrates such as non-starchy green vegetables like Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

Phase 2

Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet is geared toward incorporating slightly more complex carbohydrates that are healthy for your body. Your body does require some dietary carbohydrates to break down fats and to derive dietary fiber. During this phase, you are allowed to consume a maximum of 27 percent of your total caloric intake from carbohydrates per day. This is significantly less than the recommended 45 to 65 percent, according to MayoClinic.com. You remain in this phase until you reach your target weight.

Phase 3

Phase 3 is the lifetime maintenance plan of the South Beach Diet. Your body is supposed to be accustomed to receiving substantially fewer carbohydrates than it was previously given and be ready to sustain your desired weight for life. You only increase your carbohydrate intake 1 percent higher than you did in phase 2 so that you receive 28 percent of your daily calories from it. You begin to eat complex carbohydrates like whole grains while staying within the allotted amount of carbohydrates per day. This is supposed to be more of a balanced nutrition program. If you gain any weight back in this phase, the South Beach Diet plan recommends that you start the diet over in phase 1.

Warning

You should consult your health care practitioner or dietitian before beginning the South Beach Diet. There are heath concerns associated with low-carbohydrate diets including lightheadedness, low energy, low blood sugar and low blood pressure. Diabetics should be particularly cautious in regard to the South Beach Diet since they rely on sugar and carbohydrates if their insulin levels drop. Ketosis is another risk when drastically lowering carbohydrate consumption. This condition leads to partially broken down fat particles floating around in your body, which can cause gout, kidney stones and even death in some cases.