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| The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston Dr Agatston, claims that the South Beach Diet isn't a low-carb or low-fat diet - instead it focuses on eating the 'right' carbs and the 'right' fats. In fact, the South Beach Diet is based on the GI Diet. The diet severely restricts carbohydrates in the first two weeks, before gradually re-introducing those with a low glycemic index. The SBD also recommends swapping saturated fats for unsaturated fats. The theory behind the South Beach Diet follows the same principles of other diets based on the Glycemic Index. When we've eaten, the carbohydrates in food get broken down into sugars, which are then absorbed into the blood causing a rise in blood sugar. In response, the hormone insulin is released from the pancreas to remove the sugar from the blood. Carbohydrate-rich foods with a high Glycemic index, like bagels, cornflakes and white bread cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, resulting in the release of a large amount of insulin to deal with this. This causes blood sugar levels to drop rapidly, leaving you lacking in energy, craving more carbs and quickly feeling hungry so that you eat again, and in time start to gain weight. No surprises then that to lose weight, foods with a high GI are out! In contrast, carbs with a low Glycemic index such as pasta and rice, slowly release sugar into the blood, providing a steady supply of energy and leaving you feeling satisfied for longer. This means you get fewer carb cravings, don't constantly feel hungry and so are less likely to overeat. Foods with a low GI are therefore recommended if you want to lose weight. Like many diets, the South Beach is divided into three phases. In Phase One, most carbohydrates are banned to give your body a complete rest from fluctuating blood sugar and insulin levels. The theory is this will help to resolve insulin resistance. During Phase One, the banned foods list includes bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, fruit, milk, sweets, cake, biscuits, ice cream, sugar and alcohol. A few low GI V.G. such as broccoli and cabbage are allowed, but the focus is on eating lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese, some nuts and olive oil. You follow this phase for 14 days. In Phase Two, low GI carbs including most fruits, grainery bread, whole grain cereals and pasta and low-fat milk are reintroduced. The idea is to stay with this phase until you've reached your target weight. Finally, in Phase Three you introduce an even wider variety of foods. This phase is aimed at keeping your weight steady and the diet recommends you stay on this for life. For each phase, there are no limits on portion sizes - you simply eat enough to satisfy your appetite - and you're encouraged to eat three meals and snacks each day. The South Beach Diet claims you can lose 8-13lb in the first two weeks. Once you enter Phase Two, you can expect a more reasonable loss of 1-2lb a week. South Beach Diet Cookbook by Dr. Arthur Agatston Great food that's good for you - that's the foundation of the South Beach Diet and the reason millions of people around the world have adopted it as their lifelong eating plan, shedding unwanted pounds in the process. Created by Arthur Agatston, M.D., the diet emphasizes good fats and good carbohydrates, the kind that stave off cravings for unhealthy and sugary food and promote long-term weight loss. It's not "diet" food - it's satisfying, flavorful dishes that are good for your health and your waistline. The beginning of the cookbook is a summary of the South Beach Diet. The cookbook then divides its recipes into the 3 Phases of the South Beach Diet. The recipes are very well organized and the cookbook offers lots of choices under each phase. There are hundreds of recipes in categories like breakfast, fish and poultry, meats, vegetarian and desserts. The preparation instructions are fairly easy to understand, even for a relative novice like myself! All the recipes include nutritional data such as caloric content, cholesterol, saturated fat, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, which makes it much easier if you are tracking your meals. An added bonus is the provision of shopping lists to make sticking to the SBD that much easier. Simply use the list as a guideline the next time you go to the supermarket and you'll stay on the program. Some of my favorite recipes in the SBD cookbook include Breakfast Popovers with Parmesan, Oatmeal Pancakes, Vegetable Frittata with Parmesan, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Cups, California Wrap, Wild Rice Turkey Burgers, New Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies and Flourless Chocolate Cake with Almonds. The South Beach Diet Cookbook is an essential addition to your kitchen shelf. ********************************************************* I tried the South Beach Diet for a while and found that after a week, it really wasn’t that hard to give up all those high GI foods, like bread and white pastas that I used to eat all the time. Still to this day, I don’t crave them or eat them like I used to. I did lose weight and body fat while on the diet, but I only did it for a couple months. Then I started adding more carbs to my diet, but healthy carbs with lower GI and vegetables. I still use the SBD cookbook because the recipes are awesome! I think it is a GREAT way to start losing weight and eating the right foods. Once you get those carbs that make you crave more and more food, its much easier to eat healthier and make better choices when it comes to planning your meals. If you have any more questions about this book or anything mentioned in this review, please join us in our support forum here. You can find both South Beach Diet books at Amazon.com for a great price! |