When it comes to trying to lose weight, you certainly have plenty of diets from which you can choose. The best one for you, is the one you think you can follow for the rest of your life. The Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet are two popular weight loss diets that have different approaches to help you reach your goal weight. Knowing the difference between the two diets can help you determine if they are the right choice for you.
Zone Diet
The Zone Diet was created by Dr. Barry Sears and is designed to help you achieve hormone balance for weight loss and hunger management. On the Zone Diet, your meals have to maintain a specific nutrient balance with 40 percent of your calories coming from carbohydrates, 30 percent from fat and 30 percent from protein. Eating in such a manner helps maintain blood sugar levels and limits the release of the hormone insulin, according to the Zone Diet Info website. The Zone Diet also recommends that most of your carbohydrates come from low glycemic index foods such as fruits, vegetables and dairy products. Low glycemic index foods only cause a small rise in blood sugar. The Zone Diet also encourages you to choose lean sources of protein, such and fish and poultry, and to use healthy fats such as olive oil.
South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet was created by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston and is moderately low-carbohydrate with 28 percent of your daily calories coming from carbohydrates and the rest from protein and fat. On this diet, most of your meals consist of lean sources of protein and vegetables with a small amount of low glycemic carbohydrate foods. The diet emphasizes healthy sources of fat including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, foods high in fiber and a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables.
Differences
Both diets have a similar premise in that they limit your intake of carbohydrates to aid in better blood sugar control. The major difference between the Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet is the amount of carbohydrate allowed on each diet. The Zone Diet recommends you limit your carbohydrate intake to 40 percent of your daily calories, while on the South Beach Diet, your intake is limited 28 percent of your daily calories. In addition, the Zone Diet is more structured than the South Beach Diet, suggesting specific guidelines on how much to eat at each meal.
Considerations
When considering a diet to help you lose weight, you need to find one that includes foods you enjoy eating in an amount that is comfortable for you. If you enjoy eating carbohydrate-rich foods, then neither the Zone Diet nor the South Beach Diet may be a good fit. The key to losing weight is eating fewer calories than your body needs; it does not matter whether those calories come from carbohydrates, fat or protein.
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