When it comes to diet, people usually think about starving themselves. This was a common practice in the late ’60s where women used to starve to look thin. Later, in 2000, diet culture became very popular where most women used to rely on fresh fruits and green vegetables and a lot of salads. Barbie culture changed the ideal women’s body type and made us all swoon by the word zero figure. However, as the fitness and health industry joined their forces with the medical industry, things started to change. Soon after plus-size models and body positivity came into being. Women started appreciating women and now we are looking for diets that are well balanced and healthy and they can help you avoid the bloated tummy. These diets do not help you to get skinny, instead, they help make you look good by reducing the overall fat content in your body.
With the help of this article, we will look into the south beach diet. We will explore what the south beach diet is and how it impacts the body, we will try to figure out if this diet is healthy or do you need to alter it for something better.
What Is A South Beach Diet?
A south beach diet consists mainly of low-fat and high-protein food. It can be traced back to 1990 when Dr. Arthur, who was a cardiologist, designed this diet to help reduce the heart disease rate. This is especially important for people who have a family history of heart disease or who have been diagnosed with heart disease. The idea of the south beach diet was based on the results of the Atkins nutritional approach. Doctor Agatston reported that people using the Atkins nutritional approach were losing weight, especially belly fat, however people who were solely focused on low-fat food were struggling to get their desired results. The main idea was to cut the amount of high-fat food that was allowed in the Atkins nutritional approach and add something healthy that was rich in fiber and had good carbs as well.
The South beach diet may help you lose weight fast but it is restrictive in nature and thus accredited as a fad diet.
Who Can Follow The South Beach Diet
This diet aimed to curate and design something that could help people who are obese, have diabetic symotoms, or have high cholestrol and need to lose weight. This diet also helps in decreasing the risk of cardiac arrest. The glycemic index of the south beach diet was lower and it was also low on fat so this was an ideal diet for sugar patients and heart disease patients.
What Do You Eat
Following the South Beach Diet means that you’ll be enjoying Healthy unsaturated Fats, such as nuts, avocado, nuts, olive oil and cheese. For Proteins, you add lean meat, seafood and eggs. The vegetables chosen have to be less starchy and have high fiber. These include, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower and celery. Legumes like black eyed beans, kidney beans etc. are also allowed in this diet.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, the south beach diet is a very healthy diet with high protein content. It helps you stay healthy but there is a main portion of meat without fat. You will eventually consume a low carbs diet that is rich in protein and you will also quit processed food. All in all the diet is good, healthy, and doable. One of the main issues with the diet is that it restricts the use of any saturated or animal-based fat, you can use vegetable and plant-based fat but no animal-based fat is allowed. In some cases, people living in cold areas have reported the impact on their bodies. They have also reported that cutting on fat has impacted their heat retention power. In short, this is a good diet to continue for a few months but this cannot be a viable option in the long run.
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- A Beginner’s Guide to the South Beach Diet - January 22, 2022