Dr. Arthur Agatston created the South Beach Diet as a means to help his cardiac patients improve their health. As a side effect, many patients experienced weight loss that helped them to get closer to their goal weights. The diet focuses on a three-phase plan designed to help you eliminate foods that cause insulin spikes in your body, which can affect your ability to lose weight. By reducing cravings, you will be able to consistently make healthy choices.
Incorporates Food Low on the Glycemic Index
Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet emphasizes eliminating carbohydrate-containing foods that cause insulin spikes in your body. These foods include bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, baked goods and alcohol. These foods are high on the glycemic index, which means they affect your blood sugar more than those lower on the glycemic index. By eliminating high-glycemic index foods in favor of healthier options, like lean proteins and vegetables, you are better able to maintain blood sugar levels. This is especially advantageous if you have diabetes or prediabetes and need to maintain your blood sugar.
Less Deprivation
While the South Beach Diet restricts foods known to cause blood sugar spikes, it does not restrict the amount of "good" foods you can eat. The diet does not set calorie limits on your daily diet. You can eat as much of the permitted foods as you like. Because one common diet pitfall is deprivation, allowing you to eat as many healthy foods as you like ensures you feel full. Even the most restrictive Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet incorporates small sweet treats, like hard candy and frozen fudge bars.
"Sensible" Low-Carbohydrate Diet
Because the South Beach Diet does restrict high-glycemic index carbohydrates in the initial phases, it is often termed a low-carbohydrate diet like the Zone and Atkins diets. When compared against other low-carbohydrate diets, one expert finds the South Beach Diet takes top honors. "It's one of the most sensible of the low-carb diets," said Dr. John Foreyt, a weight-loss researcher with the Baylor College of Medicine interviewed on Health.com. "If you pick and choose carefully, you can make a sensible eating plan out of it."
Focus on the Long-Term
While the initial phases of the South Beach Diet may restrict some foods to help reduce cravings, Phase 3 of the diet focuses on lifetime maintenance. This means the South Beach Diet does not provide a means for quick weight loss, but instead outlines a path where you can maintain a healthy weight for a lifetime. If at any time your cravings begin to come back, you can switch to Phases 1 or 2 again.
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