south beach diet

Knowing how to choose the right diet can be a daunting task. Everywhere you look there is a new fad diet or someone is gushing about how much weight they lost doing this and south beach diet that. But how to choose the right diet for you? An individual s body type and south beach diet personality may require a specific diet that is suited especially for you. However, most of America is on a weight loss craze. We are willing to try anything and south beach diet everything to lose that extra weight. The South Beach Diet is one of the more popular diets that many are using for their weight loss efforts. In this article, we will examine the basics of the South Beach Diet.

The South Beach Diet was created by the cardiologist, Dr. Agatston. He originally created the South Beach Diet for his heart patients. His goal? To improve the patient s heart health while helping the patient to effectively lose significant amounts of weight. Dr. Agatston states the South Beach Diet is not a low fat or low carb diet but focuses more on the right kinds of fats and south beach diet carbs. The South Beach Diet is based on the Glycemic Index. It also encourages the addition of good fats from monounsaturated sources like olive oil.

So what exactly is the Glycemic Index? Every carbohydrate is scaled between 0-100 on the Glycemic Index. Carbohydrates with a higher value on the Glycemic Index create a rapid rise in blood sugar. Glucose is used as a reference point on the Glycemic Index scale, with a value of 100. What does this mean? Well when your blood sugar level spikes your body starts storing food as fat. So when you eat those high fat foods with the high amounts of sugar it is almost completely turning to fat inside your body.

Now how exactly does the South Beach Diet work? It is divided into three phases. Phase I involves the restriction of most carbohydrates. In theory, Phase I allows the body time to equalize the insulin levels. This phase lasts about two weeks. During this time you ll have to eliminate sweets, cake, biscuits, ice cream, sugar, alcohol, pasta, fruit, milk, rice, bread, and south beach diet potatoes from your diet. You are allowed low GI (Glycemic Index) vegetables like cabbage and south beach diet broccoli, but your focus will be on eating meats that are lean (chicken, fish), eggs, low-fat cheese, olive oil, and south beach diet certain kinds of nuts.

Phase II requires the reintroduction of low GI foods like granary bread, wholegrain cereals, pasta, low fat milk, and south beach diet most fruits. You continue in Phase II until you reach your weight goal. Phase III allows the reintroduction of a wide variety of foods aimed at keeping your weight maintained and south beach diet changing your life style.

If you would like to know more about the South Beach Diet, check out the guides section of Diet Concepts. Knowing how to choose the right diet is a big key to success.

Are diet drinks such as diet coke and south beach diet such really that bad for me?

For many of us who try to watch the amount of sugar we consume, diet drinks are an excellent alternative to the calorie dense drinks which fill the convience store shelves. However, diet drinks like anything else these days, does come with some negatives as well.

Diet sodas contain phosphorus, and south beach diet a high phosphorus intake. beverages that contain phosphorus adds to the problem of good calcium balance, and south beach diet this can be a problem for those prone to osteoporosis. As well, diet sodas often contain caffeine, which is de-hydrating and south beach diet adds to the challenge of replacing lost fluids.

However, the phosphorous issue is mostly a concern in colas, not clear drinks - as the colas contain the highest levels of phosphorous. just make sure you take a calcium supp. As well it should be noted that red meat is also high in phosphorous.

And the caffeine is a non-issue in people who normally consume caffeine -- it doesn't have as much of an effect in those who regularly consume it.

In the end, for many of us, diet drinks are a great addition to a diet. However, just because there are little to no calories to count, doesn t mean you can drink as much as you want. Everything in moderation is key.