Many people have wondered what the differences are between the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet. Let's start with the Atkins Diet first, as it has been around the longest. Though the Atkins Diet catches a lot of criticism from its detractors who believe the diet is unhealthy and detrimental to the body, there are just as many who think that the Atkins Diet is the greatest thing since the sliced bread that they are not allowed to have!
The Atkins Diet appeared in 1972 as the brainchild of a Dr. Robert Atkins. It is low carbohydrate, high protein, and high fat. Dr. Atkins was a heart specialist, and his years of research into the best diet for his patients culminated when he noticed that not only did these heart patients enjoy better health, they were also losing weight. Dr. Atkins wrote a best-selling book about the diet to introduce it to the masses, who were quick to embrace this supposedly new idea. The medical profession disliked the diet, citing many health reasons, but the public adored it.
Actually, the idea is not all that new. Our ancestors subsisted on animals that they killed, along with whatever vegetation and nuts they could gather. This was a high protein, high fat, low carb diet. Those who are proponents of the Atkins Diet say the reason it works so well is because we were meant to eat this way, and point to our ancestors as an example. The Atkins Diet book was updated and re-released shortly before Dr. Atkins passed away as a result of a bad fall on an icy sidewalk. This re-introduced the diet to a whole new contingent who fell in love with this way to lose weight.
However, the love that people felt for this diet was short-lived once they discovered just how quickly they would put weight back on if they ate something that wasn't on the Atkins diet plan, like a piece of fruit. No matter how much a person adores steak and bacon and butter and cheese, when you've eaten your fill of these foods for awhile, you do get quite tired of them, and yearn for fresh vegetables and fruits.
The South Beach Diet was hailed as the latest and greatest new diet to hit the world in a long time. A cardiologist called Arthur Agatston wanted to find a diet for his patients who were not having good luck with low carb, high fat Atkins Diet. His goal was a diet that would contribute to having a healthy cardiovascular system. Since he could not find a diet anything like this, he came up with his own eating plan, and called it the South Beach Diet.
Dr. Agatston kept good records of what kind of weight loss his patients experienced. His records showed that they lost more weight that others lost on a diet recommended by the American Heart Association. There was also an improvement in cholesterol levels and triglycerides for those who used the South Beach Diet.
This diet is not considered to be a low carbohydrate diet like the Atkins Diet. Instead, it is said to be a way of eating that is as healthy as it is possible to be. It is a balanced diet in that anyone who uses the diet/reads the book is encouraged to pick the “good” carbs instead of the “bad” carbs, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. As with the Atkins Diet, individuals are encouraged to experiment and find the level of carbohydrates that works for them, and keeps them losing and not gaining.
However, the same peculiar phenomenon that people experienced on the Atkins Diet was also a flaw of the South Beach diet. Whenever you slipped up and ate a meal made up of foods that were not on the diet, the pounds came flying back on with a vengeance. Dieters would get quite a surprise when they stepped on the scales the next morning!
A better and easier diet to follow than either Atkins or South Beach is the Calorie Shift way of eating. There are no special foods to buy, no complicated carb gram counting, just eating good, plain food in varying amounts on varying days. This tricks your body, which does not even realize that its owner is on a diet! There are no health risks with calorie shifting. It could be called the ultimate diet, and is definitely the last diet you will ever need!
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