South Beach Diet vs Atkins Diet
Learn the differences between SouthBeach Diet compare to other traditional diet.

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South Beach Diet Vs Traditional Diet

The SouthBeach Diet is somewhat controversial because it is the opposite of most highly-prescribed diets, which advise a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrates.  Agatston found most low-fat options are actually fattening, because the fats are replaced with carbohydrates.  In the view of many nutritionists, highly-processed, low-fat foods are considered “empty calories.”  For example, many brands of cookies and other snacks are  labeled as being low-fat and low-cholesterol.

According to the traditional low-fat diets, these foods would be acceptable.  However, these highly-processed foods  are lacking fiber.  Fiber allows the body to digest foods slowly, which is crucial to weight loss.  The faster the speed of digestion, the worse the food is for a healthy diet.  High-fiber foods force the stomach to work in order to get to the carbohydrates.   As a result, sugar is released gradually into the bloodstream.  Following this logic, a slice of white bread is worse than a scoop of ice cream, which is less fattening and has more nutritional value.

The SouthBeach Diet replaces white bread with whole-grain bread, sweet potatoes for white potatoes and brown or wild rice for white rice.  These “good carbohydrates” have a lower glycemic index and contain more fiber. When these foods are replaced with more whole grains and vegetables, insulin begins to stabilize.  One positive side-effect of this change is a decrease in physical cravings.  Another trick to increasing fiber and staying full, is to drink a glass of Metamucil 15 minutes before a meal.