The South Beach Diet Vs The GI Diet?
Filed in archive Another Diet on June 23, 2007
From what I heard I thought that The South Beach Diet was just like the GI diet. A low carb diet. Low carb meaning low in carbohydrates. As I didn´t understand the difference between the two I decided to do a little research.
The South Beach Diet is said to not be a low carb diet but a balanced diet.
This diet is similar to the Glycemic Index diet. There are three phases in the diet just as in the GI diet.
The first being very limited in carbohydrates, the second allowing a bit more and the third phase is the phase you should follow from then on. For life in other words. So it is not only about losing weight, it is about learning to eat a balanced diet for life. Of course based on the GI index for food
What is so tempting with this diet is the weight loss part. You can lose up to 4 kilos in just the first phase which is usually 2 weeks. Sounds good doesn´t it? But that is also the hardest phase, you have to be very determined in order to follow it. And what you lose is mostly water and as soon as you start eating carbohydrates again you are more than likely to gain it all.
When checking for recipes they are all very tempting and the lack of carbohydrates doesn´t even come to your mind until you realize it doesn´t have any. Or only contains a very small portion of it.
Honestly I don´t see the difference between the GI diet and the South Beach diet. They seem pretty much the same to me. I know that the atkins diet is similar as well and I am going to read up on that too. I read somewhere that the GI diet isn´t a crash diet, well as far as I know it is just as the South Beach Diet.
As usual, my advice is that a little bit of everything is better than nothing so use your common sense when it comes to dieting. And remember to consult your doctor before trying a new diet if you have any health concerns.
Are you on the South Beach lifestyle or want to try it, have tried it? What is the difference do you think from the Gi Diet and what difference has is made in your life? It would be very interesting to hear! Maybe you have a South Beach success story to tell? Email me and I´ll publish it to inspire others!
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Tags: south beach diet gi diet low carb carbohydrates weight loss fitness south+beach
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Response from:
Margie
(06/27/07 6:45pm)
Response from:
Linda
(07/10/07 6:39pm)
Thank you so much for that long answer Margie Very kid of you to take the time to respond so thoroughly! I shall check out the message board!
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South Beach is not really a "low carb" diet, although many people tend to think of it that way (and when compared to how some people ate BEFORE going "on the beach," it might have lower overall carbs than before ;) ). South Beach is a "good carb" diet, that is based in large part on the Glycemic Index.
It is also possible to believe you're on South Beach and intentionally choose not to eat enough carbs because you find it confusing to distinguish between the good carbs and the bad carbs.
But even Phase I is not low-carb. Unfortunately, though, many people think it is, and avoid many of the good low-GI carbs that are allowed on Phase I.
I wish I knew more about the "GI diet," so I could explain what, if any, differences there are.
The thing with the Glycemic index is that it's a means of classifying carbs or foods that contain carbs, according to how quickly they become blood sugar. High-GI carbs can spike your blood sugar, after which your body perceives excess blood sugar and decides to store some of that energy as fat. Then upon storing the excess as fat, your blood sugar crashes, and you become hungry. Obviously not a good thing if you're diabetic, or if you're trying to lose fat.
Essentially South Beach has taken all the work out of evaluating foods according to their GI, so that you need only know whether a food is on the list.
While the GI is very important when sticking to South Beach, it is not the only thing that determines whether or not a food is on the South Beach "foods to enjoy" list(s). There are some low-GI foods that aren't that healthy (such as many candies), and some high-GI foods that are very nutritious (certain fruits). So the lists are not strictly a reflection of what's good/what's bad with respect to GI; they also account for what's good/what's bad with respect to the good/bad fats, the amount of nutrition in them, etc.
There are other things about South Beach that are important to understand if you're going to compare it to other diets. South Beach encourages the consumption of three meals, with healthy between-meal snacks. You should eat every 2-3 hours, and not allow yourself to get hungry (because when you're hungry, you tend to overeat and/or to grab whatever's handy, even if it's something "bad"). You're also supposed to drink plenty of water. Caffeine should be avoided (although one cup a day is "OK" if you absolutely have to), because it can cause cravings. When you start to introduce whole grains and other moderate GI carbs in Phase II, you should always do so with a "sugar stopper" (i.e., the foods that help slow digestion--fat, fiber, protein, acid)--which isn't that hard to do if you are having a meal that likely contains several of these elements anyway.
It is possible to follow weight watchers, and do South Beach at the same time. Many diabetics follow South Beach (except as diabetics, they HAVE to count carbs). Vegetarians, vegans, and people with allergies are able to follow South Beach--they just don't eat the foods they can't.
I hope this helps with your understanding of this healthy eating plan. I am an active poster at the prevention message boards (where there are several forums devoted to South Beach); please feel free to stop by and ask more questions! (Or e-mail me).
Margie