Does The South Beach Diet Work Or Is It A Sham?

The idea of losing 13 pounds or more in two weeks, as the South Beach Diet claims, seems very attractive. However, does the South Beach Diet work or it just a sham? To have that much weight simply disappear into the abyss means that you probably aren’t burning fat, but rather losing water weight along with some muscle tissue too. Water loss is only temporary and quickly regained.

So how does the South Beach Diet accomplish this feat anyway? A closer look shows that, like the Atkins Diet, the first few weeks require restricting carbohydrates severely, which means you will lack essential nutrients and can easily trigger your body’s starvation response. This type of dieting, along with being very misleading, has many negative consequences.

Water loss is not healthy, and is temporary and therefore quickly the lose water weight is quickly regained.The downside of losing muscle tissue is that muscles burns a lot of calories, which means that as you lose your muscle your body will burn less calories and store more fat in the long run. This is why studies have shown that most people who lose weight with diets will put it back on, and often more, when they go back to their old habits.

What’s more, the author suggests that if you end up putting some of the weight back on you should immediately switch back to the first phase to lose the excess weight again. Studies have now shown that when you lose weight and gain weight by constantly changing your diet this promotes atherosclerosis deposits, which is a heart attack causing plaque.

If we were to look closer at the diet and the meal plans it is clear that the South Beach diet is not as healthy as it claims to be. You can eat bacon and cheese but you’re not allowed watermelon because it is a high GI food? The author also takes cholesterol-lowering drugs which cause mental confusion, muscle weakness and pain, radical changes in mood, and other side effects.

Other ridiculous claims include French fries and potato chips being healthier choices than baked potatoes because of the fat in which they’re cooked in. Yet such foods are very high in dangerous trans fats which experts now say are "the biggest food-processing disaster in U.S. history". In addition, many of the suggested meals can take a lot of time to prepare and many of the foods the diet recommends can be quite costly too.

Almost 35% of Americans are now obese but despite this the only exercise recommendation is 20 minutes of daily walking. However, this is not at all sufficient especially when you consider that many people have a serious exercise deficiency and walking for 20 minutes does use up nearly enough calories to burn serious fat. This advice is suited to people who are in good shape and just need to lose a few pounds.

Fortunately, weight training is recommended not only because building muscle speeds up your metabolism but also because it helps strengthen bones and tendons which, as the author states, is good news for women suffering from osteoporosis

Despite the fact that the author criticizes processed foods the recent alliance between the South Beach Diet and food manufacturer Kraft has brought the author’s credibility into question. Does the South Beach Diet work? I would have to say that it is not an ideal solution if your goal is to improve your health, lose the fat and keep it off.

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