Health magazine has a diet guide that gives you the lowdown on most fad diets
health.com :: diet guide
While the South Beach Diet is lumped together with other low-carb plans, it takes a decidedly different and healthier approach to protein and fat. Agatston contends that weight loss is just one of the priorities of the diet (the other is healthful levels of cholesterol and other blood fats). As with other low-carb diets, it’s questionable if the restrictive first phase really banishes carb cravings and is truly safe. So perhaps dieters can jump headfirst into phase two.
Does the diet take and keep weight off? No clinical data. There are no independent trials that look at the success of the diet alone or compare it with other popular plans. However, Agatston has his own study with 40 overweight volunteers. Dieters were randomized to either South Beach or the American Heart Association Step 2 diet. At the 12-week point, South Beach dieters lost nearly 14 pounds, or about twice as much as the AHA dieters.
Is the diet healthy? Phase one is too restrictive. But phase two and the maintenance phase promote healthful fats, lean proteins, and complex carbs, albeit a smaller percentage of them.
What do the experts say? “It’s one of the more sensible of the low-carb diets,” says John Foreyt, PhD, a well-known weight-loss researcher t Baylor College of Medicine. “If you pick and choose carefully in the later phase, you can make a sensible eating plan out of it. The problem with it, of course, is that there is no data on the long-term results on whether it keeps weight off.” Registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, who has counseled patients at Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute for five years, says she tells patients “not to read any of the theory part of the book or worry about glycemic index. It’s a bit convoluted,” she says. “But I do tell them to buy the book for its menu ideas, recipes, and cooking tips. There’s a great recipe for mashed cauliflower that is a good substitute for mashed potatoes.”
Who should consider the diet? Anyone wanting to try a somewhat safer version of low-carb dieting: Cooks, chefs, and dieters who appreciate good food will find lots of creative recipes here.
Bottom line: This is the best of the reduced-carb regimens. Its emphasis on healthful fats and lean sources of protein is laudable. The advice to eat three bites of a rich dessert (no more, no less) when you eat out is clever. On the other hand, forget the tip about filling up with a glass of Metamucil (fiber supplement) 15 minutes before mealtime. Eating high-fiber foods at the meal is a much better—and tastier—strategy.
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