The South Beach Diet is in the news

The South Beach Diet has received an great amount of publicity lately. While it's been frequently compared to the Atkins diet, its originator, cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, says the South Beach Diet isn't a low carb diet.

The South Beach Diet is divided into three phases, with the first phase, which lasts two weeks, not permitting bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, alcohol, baked goods, or even fruit. The second phase allows you to re-introduce some of those foods. In the third, or maintenance phase, you reach a healthy balance between good carbs and fats, which you should be able to maintain for the rest of your life. Along with the division into phases, there are many specific meal plans and recipes, which also accounts for the comparisons to the Atkins diet.

However, it is possible for vegetarians to pursue the South Beach Diet, which would be difficult with the Atkins diet - although proponents of the latter are quick to point out that doing Atkins is not synonymous with eating red meat. Dr. Agatston's book includes many vegetarian recipes. While the first phase will sound quite difficult to many, Agatston says even bread and pasta lovers will be able to get through the first two weeks "painlessly". He says you may even totally lose the urge to eat these types of foods once you get started with phase one, and that people who have previously followed the South Beach Diet have had any cravings virtually disappear.

The reasoning behind phase one of the South Beach Diet is that there is a mechanism inside us that affects the way our bodies react to what we eat, making us overweight. When the mechanism is turned on, we have cravings for the foods that cause us to store fat. According to Dr. Agatston, at the end of the first two weeks of the diet that mechanism has switched from the on to off position.

Users praise the South Beach Diet

While the South Beach Diet seems to be receiving great recommendations from users, incorporating some physical exercise could only improve the results. Consider including either aerobic exercise or strength training exercise, or both, to assist in fat loss and toning.