In the second part of the series on trend dieting, I will beexploring the pros and cons of the South Beach Diet. Allinformation comes courtesy of www.southbeachdiet.com andwww.prevention.com.

According to founder Arthur Agaston, M.D., the South Beach Dietapproach is neither low-carb or low-fat. Rather, it relies on afoundation of the ‘right’ kind of carbs and fat. Through a threephase program, the South Beach Diet is transforming overweightbodies, one pound at a time.

While Atkins takes a no-carb approach, the South Beach Dietencourages a person to start with a two week plan that eliminatesall breads, pastas, dairy products, sweets, fruits and alcoholicbeverages. In doing so, the body makes the switch to a high-proteindiet and body fat is burned much more quickly than in traditionaldiets.

After the initial ‘cleansing’ process, the body takes on phasetwo. In the second phase, foods that had been previously eliminatedare now reintroduced to the body, including some bread, pasta,wine, and limited amounts of sweets. By this time, the body shouldhave already lost between eight and 13 pounds, according to the Website and additional reports.

The body will continue to lose weight, now trained to ignorecravings for sweets and other foods that stick people in anunending weight-gain/loss cycle. This is a critical point in theSouth Beach Diet. People can either choose to continue the patternof a low-carb diet, or they can gradually get back into a normaleating cycle.

The Web site explains that in this stage, the blood chemistry isaltered, therefore changing the cardiovascular system. Althoughthis benefit is unseen, it may help the body out in the longrun.

The selling point of the South Beach Diet is it’s approach toweight loss and it’s simplicity. Nowhere does the diet mentioncounting calories, fat grams, or intake. These aspects appeal tomany people who don’t want to hassle of trying to calculatecalories at a restaurant.

Appropriate foods for the South Beach Diet include eggs,canadian bacon, fish, cheese, lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes,sugar-free foods, chicken, beef, pork and a variety of otherlow-carb, high protein foods. The trick is skipping sugars–refinedor natural, which includes fruits, juice, pop, alcohol anddesserts. While this is hard for many people, the benefits are alsovery rewarding to frustrated dieters and those looking for a quickanswer to weight loss.

In comparison with the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet’s Website didn’t list any health risks. The South Beach Diet takes thesame low-carb approach as Atkins, but then reintroduces normalfoods within two weeks. These two diets are very close in results,form, and success. It is simply a matter of choosing, with carefulresearch, which one is right for you.

For more information on the South Beach Diet, visitwww.southbeachdiet.com.