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 The
South Beach Diet
BodyLogicMD
Review:
This diet
book, written by a cardiologist,
gives a nutritional plan in three
phases. Focusing on proper nutrition
and how you can use what you eat
as a method of preventing disease,
it is a good read for everyone.
It contains a number of tasty recipes
as well.
Summary:
Despite
the glitzy title, this is one of
the more appealing diet books among
the new "anti-carb" programs.
Agatston, a doctor based at Miami
Beach's Mt. Sinai Medical Center,
found that his patients not only
were unable to stay on various popular
diets but their cholesterol and
blood sugar levels remained dangerously
high after trying these plans. The
doctor chose to alter his own diet-first
avoiding all carbohydrates and fruit
and then reintroducing these foods
in moderation. Feeling better and
losing weight, he then consulted
a nutritionist to modify his strategy
to devise a sound method for his
patients. The South Beach diet begins
with a somewhat restrictive two-week
program, generally producing a weight
loss of from eight to 13 pounds.
The initial
phase may be difficult for those
who crave bread, pasta and fruit.
But there are still choices, and
snacks (cheese, hummus, vegetables)
are a necessary part of the diet.
People shouldn't feel hungry on
this part of the diet, stresses
the author. The second phase offers
somewhat more choices, including
whole wheat bread and other selected
carbohydrates. Agatston advocates
combining the "bad" with
the "good." For example,
take whole wheat bread and dip it
into olive oil, rather than using
butter. Eat a very small amount
of pasta with lots of vegetables,
meat and healthy oils. Complete
meal plans along with simple recipes
comprise roughly half the book.
Of course, there's no perfect diet
that works for everyone, but the
enthusiasm of the conversational
tone and the inviting manner make
the book more appealing than many
other diet tomes.
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