The South Beach Diet - Essay Example

The South Beach Diet Origin The South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by the dietician Marie Almon and the cardiologist Arthur Agatston in 1980. Arthur Agatston was the MD director of the Mount Sinai Cardiac prevention centre in Miami Beach, Florida. The plan was designed with the aim of preventing heart diseases but gradually with time it gained popularity as a plan to lose weight. The South Beach diet has three phases; the first two weeks phase is restrictive, while second phase has some restrictions and the final phase is a maintenance phase.

The foods allowed are as follows; Phase 1The foods to enjoy are; seafood, lean beef, lean poultry, lean pork, vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, celery, asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, onions, fennel), legumes, egg, cheese (fat free or cottage cheese), Dairy (fat-free or 1% milk, fat-free plain yogurt), nuts, canola or olive oil and sweet/ sugars no more than 75 calories per day. Phase 2The foods allowed in this phase are starchy carbohydrates, seafood, lean beef/poultry/pork, fruits, dairy (yogurt, milk fat free), vegetables (barley, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, and carrots), sweet and chocolates which are semi-sweet and soy products.

The foods disallowed in the diet plan are;In phase 1; all starchy carbohydrates, alcohol, all fruits, cheese (full fat) and Vegetables (barley, white or sweet potatoes, corn, yams, beets). In phase 2; Starchy Carbohydrates, fruit (bananas, canned fruit, fruit juice, pineapple, raisins, watermelon), vegetables (beets, corn, white potatoes), dairy (full cream).The South Beach diet is a low fat diet which helps in reducing the cholesterol level and prevents heart diseases. Good carbohydrates vs.

bad carbohydratesAgatston believed that that hunger cycles in an individual are triggered by carbohydrate rich food which the body can digest quickly, creating a spike in blood. Such foods include the heavily refined sugars and grains that make up a large part of the typical Western diet. The South Beach Diet eliminates these carbohydrate sources in favor of relatively unprocessed foods such as vegetables, beans, and whole grains which are good sources of carbohydrates. Good fats vs. bad fatsThe South Beach Diet eliminates the trans-fats and discourages saturated fats.

The foods which contain bad fats may not contribute to hunger cycle but they contribute to LDL cholesterol and heart diseases. Thus the South Beach Diet replaces these bad fats with foods rich in unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids which contribute to HDL cholesterol and provide other health benefits. Specifically, the diet excludes the fatty portions of red meat and poultry, replacing them with lean meats, nuts, and oily fish which are considered good fats. Work citedAgatston, The South Beach Diet, St Martins Press, ISBN 0-312-31521-X, 2003.

Waterfront Media, Inc., South Beach Diet, Retrieved 7 Nov 2009, http://southbeachdiet.com/sbd/publicsite/index.aspx. Free dieting: the weight loss guide, South beach diet food list, retrieved 16 Nov 2009, http://www.freedieting.com/south_beach_diet_food_list.htm