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The South Beach diet gained popularity in the early 2000s. You’ve probably heard of it, but you probably also have some misconceptions about the way the diet works. Most people think of it as a low-carb diet (like The Atkins Diet), but this plan isn’t about eating less carbs, or less fat - it’s about eating the right ones.

The South Beach Diet wasn’t originally designed to help people to lose weight. It was put together by a cardiologist to promote healthy eating, especially the kind that would be good for the heart. That’s where good fats and bad fats, and good carbs and bad carbs, come into the picture. You’ve probably heard of “trans fats” and “saturated fats”. Well, those are the kind that not only contribute to cholesterol and the risk of heart disease, but are also very hard to lose once you’ve consumed. Unsurprisingly, The South Beach diet eliminates these in Phase One - that means no fatty cuts of red meat. Bad carbohydrates create a rapid increase in blood sugar, making you hungry again quickly. These - like pastry and most bread - have to go too.

The Diet is structured in decreasingly strict phases. Phase One eliminates all refined carbohydrates, like bread, and sugar. Alcohol, and even fruit, have to go too. This phase allows rapid weight loss, but also diminishes the hunger cycle, so you’ll feel full for longer. Phase Two reintroduces some wholegrain carbohydrates, and generally allows more variety than the first phase. It can last as long as you choose. Phase Three is not a diet plan, but a lifestyle. You can make your own good food decisions according to the guidelines you’ve learnt, and thereby maintain your ideal weight.

The South Beach Diet has many benefits, not least what it can do for your health. While many diets have harmful long-term effects on your general well-being, and especially you metabolism, The South Beach Diet does only good things for your cholesterol levels, your heart, and your risk of diabetes. Because it’s not a crash diet, it increases your metabolic rate.

The South Beach Diet allows for a far more varied menu than most diet plans popular today. After you’ve been on the diet for a while, you’ll easily be able to make good food choices on your own, without having to consult any lists or guidelines. Foods are listed as a guideline, not as rules set in stone.

It’s easy to see why on first glance The South Beach Diet might look like a fad diet - its glamorous name does little to add to its credibility! This diet, however, is something quite differently. Although Phase One provides short-term results, it also works in the long term. It’s allowed many followers not only to lose weight, but also to keep it off indefinitely. Rather than taking advantage of the gullible, The South Beach Diet allows people to become better educated about the nutrition choices that they make everyday. It doesn’t look like this is a “fad” that’s going away any time soon!