Why Diets Suck, Part Six: The South Beach Diet
This week, our search for a healthy diet brings us to the South Beach Diet.
The South Beach Diet is a creation of an M.D. in—guess where—Miami Beach, Florida. Cardiologist Arthur Agastson came up with the diet as an alternative to low-fat diets, which his patients had difficulty staying on.
Dr. Agastson’s goal was to improve the health of his patients’ hearts. However, when his patients began shedding pounds, word got out and it quickly became one of the hottest weight loss diets around.
The diet consists of three phases. Phase one lasts for two weeks, during which time you cut all starches and fruit out of your menu plan. This is to help you eliminate unhealthy cravings and sugar addictions.
In phase two, you get to gradually add in up to three fruit servings daily, as well as up to three starchy food servings (no refined grains). Phase three allows for pretty much anything you want, unless you begin to gain weight again. Then you are to go back to phase one and two, until your weight goes back down to where you want it.
When I learned about the South Beach Diet, I was good with it (generally speaking) until I read about Phase Three. Humor me, will you, and let me start there as I show you
How the South Beach Diet fails
- The “anything goes” allowance in Phase 3 goes against what any self-respecting nutritionist or nutrition researcher would advise. You can go back to fettuccine alfredo—as long as you don’t gain weight. A Snicker’s bar every couple days—as long as you don’t gain weight. White flour bagels for breakfast—as long as you don’t gain weight.
The underlying implication in the diet is that you should stick to only whole grains and healthy fats, even when you enter Phase Three. But as it doesn’t explicitly ban refined foods, many people—in the absence of understanding the health risks involved—may return to their old dietary habits once they’ve lost the weight they wanted to lose.
Recent research, and studies of people groups who consume traditional foods, can’t be any more conclusive: eating refined foods is one of the primary causes of modern degenerative diseases. You can be skinny and still be headed for an early grave if you are not discerning about what crosses your lips.
- The diet allows for artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are chemicals that the body recognizes as toxins. Aspartame is particularly nasty, having been proven to cause symptoms ranging from headaches to memory loss.
Furthermore, as I stated earlier, studies have shown that artificial sweeteners may be a bigger culprit in weight gain than white sugar itself.
- The South Beach Diet has no caution against factory-farmed animal products. Like the other diets I discuss above, the South Beach Diet begins with a menu that revolves around meat, cheese, and eggs. And like the other diets, it provides no discussion of health benefits in consuming clean meats, nor the risks in consuming factory meats.
- The diet does not allow for individual differences in nutritional needs. Some people don’t do well at all on a meat-laden diet. They might actually gain weight in the first couple of weeks of trying to follow it. In addition, some of us have naturally occurring low blood sugar, and to go without any starchy foods or fruits for longer than a couple of days is sheer torture.
- The diet does not work for everyone. Remember how the South Beach Diet got its start? To help prevent further heart damage for people with heart disease?
I know one couple who started the diet several years ago, mainly because the husband had heart problems.
He still does.
- The diet makes beef fat the enemy. Although certain types of beef are allowed for the Phases 1 and 2, fatty cuts are forbidden. In a way, that’s good, since the toxins in factory farm animals accumulate mostly in the fat.
However, the saturated fat in grass fed beef is actually healthy, providing brain food and improved immune system function. As a matter of fact, recent studies conclude that a diet that includes grass-fed beef several times a week can actually prevent heart disease, because of its high omega-3 fatty acid content.
If Dr. Agastson were to promote clean meats and read up on the latest research, he would do his diet’s followers a great favor.
Just as The South Beach Diet has fewer problems that some of the afore-mentioned diets in this series, it also has more redeeming qualities.
Where the South Beach Diet Triumphs
- The diet encourages the consumption of healthy fats and whole grains.
- It eliminates sugary and starchy foods for two weeks to help dieters break their sugar addiction.
- It calls for a liberal consumption of vegetables and salads.
- It requires dieters to eat to their satisfaction. No deprivation or calorie counting.
- Agastson encourages calcium supplementation (a deficiency in calcium has been linked not only to osteoporosis and other bone deficiencies, but also to the development of other degenerative conditions).
- The gradual re-introduction of fruits, starchy vegetables, and whole grains over a period of time aids in changing the dieter’s food preferences, making processed foods less appealing.
In summary, while the South Beach Diet isn’t the best “healthy diet” out there, you could do worse.
