Created by a cardiologist and launched in a book by the same name in 2003, the South Beach Diet mimics other low-carb plans, although it is not as restrictive. It makes a distinction between healthy carbohydrates and "bad" carbohydrates, those with a high-glycemic index. It also promotes monounsaturated fats over trans fats and saturated fats. But the diet still has a few drawbacks.
Pace of Weight Loss
Like the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet is broken down into phases. Arthur Agatston's South Beach plan indicates that you can lose as many as 13 lbs. in the first two-week phase. But this may be too much, too quickly. MayoClinic.com indicates that healthy weight loss should occur at the rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week. If you lose 6 lbs. per week at the beginning of the diet, as the South Beach Diet suggests, the bulk of that weight might just be water loss, which will come back. Worse, you could lose lean tissue mass rather than fat.
Carbohydrate Restriction
The South Beach Diet restricts carbohydrate consumption most severely during its first phase. Your body requires as many as 225 to 325 g of carbohydrates daily for healthy functioning, according to MayoClinic.com, but even the third phase of the South Beach Diet falls well below this level. As a result, the diet could leave you feeling weak, unsteady, nervous and fatigued because you're not supplying your body with adequate carbs for energy. Foods high in healthy fiber also tend to be high in carbohydrates, and if you cut back on these to conform to the South Beach Diet plan, you risk constipation and other digestive trouble.
Ketosis
The most serious effect of any low-carb diet plan is ketosis, which can occur whenever you reduce your carbohydrate intake to less than 130 g per day, especially if you do so consistently. When your body uses fat for energy, it isn't as able to convert it as efficiently as the glucose that comes from carbohydrates. Ketones are the result of fat that hasn't been broken down completely. When and if they build up, gout and kidney stones can potentially result.
Tips
Always speak with a doctor before you begin any weight loss plan that focuses on restricting or eliminating a certain kind of food. By its very nature, such a diet can create a nutritional imbalance and side effects can occur.
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