A diet that restricts your intake of white sugar and carbs can help you lose weight as well as any low-fat diet, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. But when it comes to permanent weight loss, you need to find a diet plan that can help you keep it off, one that you can follow for life. If you enjoy eating more meats and nonstarchy vegetables, low-carb and low-sugar diets might work best for you.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet was created in 1972 by Dr. Robert Atkins, and credited with starting the low-carb diet craze. The diet plan includes several phases to help you lose weight and keep it off. The first phase is designed to promote weight loss and restricts your carbohydrate intake to 20 g a day, eliminating all white sugar and grains from your diet. As you lose weight, you can slowly add carbs back to your meal plan, but healthy choices such as fruits and whole grains. Your daily carb intake throughout the program depends on your weight status.
South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston in 2003. The South Beach Diet is not as restrictive with carbs as the Atkins diet, but it does restrict your intake of white sugar. The diet encourages you to include mostly lean proteins, such as fish and chicken; vegetables; and healthy carbs. The South Beach Diet's healthy carbs are low-glycemic carbs that cause only a slight rise in blood sugar, such as legumes and whole grains. In general, your daily carb intake on the South Beach Diet is limited to 28 percent of calories. By comparison, the healthy diet recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests 45 to 65 percent of calories from carbs.
Zone Diet
The Zone Diet was developed by Dr. Barry Sears in 1995. Like the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet does not severely restrict your carb intake, but does discourage the intake of white sugar. The plan is designed to help balance your hormone levels, namely insulin, to help control hunger and weight. On the diet, each meal must contain a specific balance of nutrients, 30 percent of calories from fat, 30 percent of calories from protein and 40 percent of calories from carbs. In addition, to help manage blood sugars and insulin levels, low-glycemic carb choices are recommended.
Sugar Busters
Sugar Busters was developed in 1995 by three doctors: Sam Andrews, Luis Balart and Morris Bethea, and the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Leighton Steward. The Sugar Busters diet eliminates all white sugar, other sweeteners such as corn syrup and honey, and other refined carbs from your diet to help you lose weight. You can eat some carbs on the Sugar Busters diet, but they should be whole grains. In general, carbs are limited to 30 to 40 percent of your daily calorie intake.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: How to Get to Your Health Weight
- MayoClinic.com; "Low-Carb Diet -- Could It Help You Lose Weight?"; May 2010
- MayoClinic.com; "Atkins Diet: What's Behind the Claims"; July 2009
- MayoClinic.com; "South Beach Diet"; May 2011
- Enter the Zone: Barry Sears Zone Diet
- Sugar Busters: Introduction
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