Is the South Beach Diet Really Safe?
"How safe is the South Beach Diet?" is a question regularly asked amongst those who want to shed some of those surplus pounds. People are naturally skeptical due to the fact that in the past so many crash diets have resulted in a rapid weight loss and just as rapid a weight gain as soon as the food intake reverts back to normal. Various health issues of a serious nature are often associated with these faddy diets too. However, when you follow the South Beach Diet you will be losing weight in as healthy a way as possible, even though it may seem that the changes you are making in your eating habits are somewhat unnatural to begin with.
What are the benefits of the South Beach Diet? The biggest benefit found on the South Beach Diet isn't weight loss. It's learning how to eat healthier. The South Beach Diet teaches you how to tell the difference between good and bad carbs, and clues you in on what fats are ok to eat and which ones aren't. These simple facts are what make the South Beach Diet so effective.
There are many foods out there that are not good for us to eat: candy, chips, cake, chili cheese fries. Eating a lot of foods that are high in both sugar and saturated fat is part of an extremely unhealthy diet. In Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, you eliminate these problematic foods from your diet by reducing your "sweet calories" to 75 per day.
Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet is very restrictive, because you eliminate fruits and grain from your diet. But Phase 1 is over in 14 days, and during that time your body has the chance to completely recover from the negative effects of eating too many carbs on a regular basis.
Once the two weeks of Phase 1 is complete, you begin to add fruits and grains back into your diet, but this time in a healthy, informed and sensible way. The important thing about this phase of the South Beach Diet is that you no longer crave those high-sugar, high-fat foods. You have broken the hold they had on you, so now you are free to eat them smartly.
How does the South Beach Diet affect pregnant women? Women who are pregnant have different nutritional needs and responsibilities. Therefore, if you are pregnant and you decide to go on the South Beach Diet, it is recommended that you skip over Phase 1 and start the diet in Phase 2.
Likewise, due to the fact that growing is still taking place and two weeks without grains and fruit can make them lethargic, teenagers are quite often discouraged from following the South Beach Diet.
If you are interested in following the South Beach Diet but aren't sure it is right for you, speak with your doctor or nutritionist. Since all of us have different physiology, talking to a professional is always a good idea when entering into any diet program. Perhaps the South Beach Diet is the right one for you, but you may need to adjust some things here and there. A nutritionist or physician can assist you with this.