Read Online The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston - Free Book Online
Authors: Arthur Agatston
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FOREWORD
A good diet is always, to some degree, a work in progress. This is true of the South Beach Diet for two very sound reasons.
First, scientists are always conducting more and better re search, and as a result we’re always learning new facts about how our bodies make use of the food we eat. Given the seriousness of obesity and poor nutrition today, it makes sense that researchers are trying hard to determine what we can do, as individuals and as a society, to maintain our health and our waistlines. We are always working to incorporate the most important new findings into the South Beach Diet. This program is built on a foundation of science, but no one has the time to review scientific literature on a daily basis. So in the end, it all comes down to the question each one of us asks ourselves several times a day: “What should I eat?”
Second, the South Beach Diet has now been adopted by millions of people all over the world. We get huge amounts of feedback every day through the diet’s Web site, by mail, and by every other means imaginable. We’re constantly talking with people who are doing their best to incorporate the diet into their lifestyles. All that discussion has made us wiser in the ways that people actually put the diet to use.
I mention all this to alert you to the fact that we have made several improvements to this guide.
The biggest change is in the way we present the information in the charts that make up the main text: We now give more detail than in previous editions. For all the foods listed, you will now find figures giving Total Carbohydrates, Total Sugar, Total Fat and Saturated Fat, and Fiber. And for each food, we offer a recommendation for each phase of the diet. A more detailed explanation of the new information can be found in “How to Use the Food Guide” on page 31.
In keeping with the research I mentioned above, we’ve also modified our views on certain foods like tomatoes, car rots, and low-fat dairy. Whether it’s a fruit or a vegetable, a tomato tastes great and contains good nutrients, like lycopene, which may help prevent cancer. They are low in fructose and so their glycemic index number (one of the things we take into account when looking at foods) is low, too. These foods are fine to eat in all phases of the diet, even during Phase 1, the strictest phase.
Carrots are no longer banned in Phase 2. Early studies determined that this vegetable had a high glycemic index, which is why we discouraged dieters from eating it. But newer research has changed this view. Also, carrots aren’t calorie dense, meaning that you’d have to eat a huge amount of them in order to raise your blood sugar.
Bananas also have benefited from research on the glycemic index and the glycemic load of foods. A medium size banana has a low glycemic index and a moderate glycemic load, making it an acceptable fruit for Phase 2.
Calcium may help control body fat, and recent studies indicate that there is actually a lower risk of obesity among people who eat dairy products regularly. We advise everyone to stick with low-fat or even non-fat dairy products: 1% or fat-free milk; non-fat yogurt, low-fat or part-skim cheese. We strongly advise dieters to avoid butter, cream, and sour cream. (You should also be careful of what you replace the butter with—check the ingredients to make sure your vegetable-based spread doesn’t contain partially hydrogenated oil.
We’ve also included more information about important food categories like fast foods and meal replacement bars. In a perfect world, fast food would never make an appearance in our diet; and we’d never be so rushed that we’d eat a pack aged snack bar instead of real food. But we need all the help we can get to eat healthy while living a typical time-stressed contemporary lifestyle, so we’ve listed the information for those occasions when whole foods are simply not available.
Finally, as I’ve discovered via our South Beach Diet Web
A good diet is always, to some degree, a work in progress. This is true of the South Beach Diet for two very sound reasons.
First, scientists are always conducting more and better re search, and as a result we’re always learning new facts about how our bodies make use of the food we eat. Given the seriousness of obesity and poor nutrition today, it makes sense that researchers are trying hard to determine what we can do, as individuals and as a society, to maintain our health and our waistlines. We are always working to incorporate the most important new findings into the South Beach Diet. This program is built on a foundation of science, but no one has the time to review scientific literature on a daily basis. So in the end, it all comes down to the question each one of us asks ourselves several times a day: “What should I eat?”
Second, the South Beach Diet has now been adopted by millions of people all over the world. We get huge amounts of feedback every day through the diet’s Web site, by mail, and by every other means imaginable. We’re constantly talking with people who are doing their best to incorporate the diet into their lifestyles. All that discussion has made us wiser in the ways that people actually put the diet to use.
I mention all this to alert you to the fact that we have made several improvements to this guide.
The biggest change is in the way we present the information in the charts that make up the main text: We now give more detail than in previous editions. For all the foods listed, you will now find figures giving Total Carbohydrates, Total Sugar, Total Fat and Saturated Fat, and Fiber. And for each food, we offer a recommendation for each phase of the diet. A more detailed explanation of the new information can be found in “How to Use the Food Guide” on page 31.
In keeping with the research I mentioned above, we’ve also modified our views on certain foods like tomatoes, car rots, and low-fat dairy. Whether it’s a fruit or a vegetable, a tomato tastes great and contains good nutrients, like lycopene, which may help prevent cancer. They are low in fructose and so their glycemic index number (one of the things we take into account when looking at foods) is low, too. These foods are fine to eat in all phases of the diet, even during Phase 1, the strictest phase.
Carrots are no longer banned in Phase 2. Early studies determined that this vegetable had a high glycemic index, which is why we discouraged dieters from eating it. But newer research has changed this view. Also, carrots aren’t calorie dense, meaning that you’d have to eat a huge amount of them in order to raise your blood sugar.
Bananas also have benefited from research on the glycemic index and the glycemic load of foods. A medium size banana has a low glycemic index and a moderate glycemic load, making it an acceptable fruit for Phase 2.
Calcium may help control body fat, and recent studies indicate that there is actually a lower risk of obesity among people who eat dairy products regularly. We advise everyone to stick with low-fat or even non-fat dairy products: 1% or fat-free milk; non-fat yogurt, low-fat or part-skim cheese. We strongly advise dieters to avoid butter, cream, and sour cream. (You should also be careful of what you replace the butter with—check the ingredients to make sure your vegetable-based spread doesn’t contain partially hydrogenated oil.
We’ve also included more information about important food categories like fast foods and meal replacement bars. In a perfect world, fast food would never make an appearance in our diet; and we’d never be so rushed that we’d eat a pack aged snack bar instead of real food. But we need all the help we can get to eat healthy while living a typical time-stressed contemporary lifestyle, so we’ve listed the information for those occasions when whole foods are simply not available.
Finally, as I’ve discovered via our South Beach Diet Web
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