The South Beach Diet

Former President Bill Clinton made headlines when he lost a significant amount of weight using the South Beach Diet.  The diet has won fans nationwide, but it has also attracted its share of criticism.  One thing is for certain—the diet is highly controversial and is likely to remain so.

The South Beach Diet was created by a cardiologist in south Florida, Dr. Arthur Agatston, who developed the meal plan specifically for overweight heart patients.   Agatston’s original book was released in April of 2003 and Agatston has released two cookbooks and a food guide since. 

The diet is a three-phase plan which relies on strict food guidelines.  In the first phase—considered the strictest of the three—a dieter must eliminate a host of foods from his or her daily diet, including bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, baked goods, fruit, and alcohol.  Following Phase 1, you can start adding some of the eliminated foods back into your diet.  If you have a significant amount of weight to lose, you might have to stay on Phase 1 for an extended period of time.  However, Phase 1 is far too restrictive to follow for life.

Some have compared South Beach to Atkins, but the comparison is not really accurate.  Agatston has specifically stated that South Beach is not low-carb.  However, both diets do have a strict two-week introductory period.  Agatston believes in a balance between good carbs and fats, but also believes in eliminating highly-processed foods such as baked goods and soft drinks from one’s diet.  The South Beach diet guru says that decreasing bad carbs will enable you to metabolize what you eat more effectively and will improve insulin resistance which will, in turn, lead to weight loss. 

If you are accustomed to low-fat, high-carb diets, the South Beach plan might be particularly difficult for you.   However, Agatston maintains that, over time, you can become accustomed to eating the South Beach way.  

  
Supporters of South Beach say that it offers a proven approach to quick weight loss.  They add that they feel healthier and more energetic as a result of following the program. 

However, the critics of South Beach are just as passionate and vocal about what they see as the plan’s shortcomings.  They say that the diet represents a one-size-fits-all meal plan that ignores the fact that people are individuals and have differing nutritional requirements.  Critics contend that individuals have differing biochemistries—some people need a high-carb diet with little in the way of grains, while others require a low-carb, high-protein diet.