Rating: 
Summary: Atkins based ideas
Review: This book is based on the same IDEA that Atkins pioneered (and was maligned for). What Atkin's believed is that instead of focusing on calories which is a measurement of heat energy you should focus on the reduction of carbohydrate grams consumed.Calorie counting is an asinine way to build a diet. Because its too far of an extrapolation to use that measurement as a control for weight loss. Anyone who spends 10 minutes reading chemestry will learn this. The best direct measure of controlling weight gain is the reduction of carbohydrates. And this is the problem that America has - WAY TOO MUCH consumption of carbohydrates. So this book, like the Zone and Sugarbusters are all saying about the same thing - with very minor differences. Reducing carbs is the way to loose weight. And this diet WILL WORK because its the same principle that Atkins had postulated all his life and went against the standard medical and nutrition field with his idea. And now that it is proven to work and has been given recent merit then you have other's copying the idea with fanciful names like SOUTH BEACH. My suggestion, if you are serious about losing weight, this book will surely help. But at the same time, check out Atkin's stuff so you see the origin of the whole idea.
Rating: 
Summary: A Healthy Diet? Look elsewhere!
Review: With the popularity of low-carb diets reaching a high point recently, it was only a matter of time before someone adjusted it into "nutritional correctness." Enter The South Beach Diet by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, of Miami, Florida. The South Beach Diet is most certainly a low-carb eating regime with the usual carbohydrate foods such as bread (even whole grain), fruit, fruit juices, and rice, potatoes, and pasta excluded (or kept to a bare minimum). The emphasis is on high protein foods, non-starchy vegetables, and skim milk and other non-fat foods. Of course, white sugar is out, as well as the whole gamut of processed carbohydrate snack foods. While there is certainly nothing unhealthful about eliminating or greatly reducing one's intake of carbohydrates and sugar, this book is full of shortcomings and is quite weak on the science which supposedly supports it. In the first place is the content of the book. Of the books 310 pages, only about 100 are devoted to explaining the diet to readers. Sprinkled within those first 100 pages are real-life stories of people who succeeded on the diet. So the actual amount of writing from Dr. Agatston drops considerably. From page 108 on, however, the book's content is meal plans and recipes in line with the Diet's principles. While lots of the recipes look inviting and tasty, they all suffer from the same problem: They are full of low or non-fat ingredients, non-fat sour cream and half-and-half being favorite ingredients. Any recipe for chicken requires it to be skinless, again to get rid of those nasty saturated fats that Dr. Agatston thinks are so lethal. The book makes some bizarre and nonsensical claims about saturated fats. It claims that diets high in saturated fats cause chemical changes in the bloodstream leading to accelerated atherosclerosis and clogged arteries. They also raise the so-called "bad" cholesterol, LDL, which in the author's opinion, elevates one's chanes of a heart attack and heart disease. Dr. Agatston is your basic run-of-the-mill cardiologist who adheres to the usual dietary claptrap taught about diet and heart disease. It does not seem to occur to him to check his theories with actual human history. If he had done this, as Dr. Price had done several decades ago, he would have discovered the embarrassing truth that people who traditionally eat diets high in saturated fats do not suffer from heart attacks or heart disease. It should also be noted here that the book contains no footnotes--not even a bibliography--to support any of the nutritional claims made. Dr. Agatston gives the thumbs-up to politically-correct fats like canola oil and olive oil, but avoids butter like the plagues he thinks it causes. Instead, processed spreads are advocated and show up in a number of recipes. Nuts are OK, as well, due to their preponderance of monounsaturates. Fish oils are also ranked high on this diet. The author rightly gives the thumbs-down to margarine and shortening because of the trans-fatty acids in them. Despite this, margarine shows up in several of the books' recipes later on. Eggs are also viewed favorably, but egg substitutes show up in the recipes as well. He also totally avoids any dairy product with the fat still in it. The recipes are full of no-fat cheeses, skim milk, fat-free sour cream, etc. One wonders how any of the recipes on this diet could leave one feeling satiated or happy with the taste of the meals because fat is what makes food taste good and is also what makes one feel full after a meal. Though there is certainly nothing unhealthful about cutting out white flour, sugar, and processed foods from your diet, in the long run, the South Beach Diet has too many questionable components to make it a recommended form of eating day in and day out. Though people have certainly lost weight on the diet, the absence of animal fats is unhealthy, as well as the use of margarines, artificial sweeteners, egg substitutes, vegetable and canola oils.
Rating: 
Summary: Good diet but you've got to follow it!
Review: Dr. Agatston makes a lot of sense. What it comes down to is that sugary and starchy foods leave you hungry faster, causing you to crave more sugary and starchy foods which you must eat more often to feel satisified. And thus the cycle of weight gain begins. I'm not seriously overweight but I could stand to lose 10 lbs. So I gave the diet a try. As a sweets lover I'll tell you that the first few days weren't easy, but the results are almost instant if you follow the diet strictly. You will not feel deprived - try the ricotta desserts and sugar free candy to soothe your sweet tooth. I really have lost many of my cravings - the book is right. However, if you cheat, you will see your results go quickly. The fact is, this is not just a diet, it must be a lifestyle. Three criticisms. One, the book really needs a better glycemic index. It's quite limited, but I hear a more detailed one is coming out soon. Two, the recipes are great but realistically speaking you can't cook like that everyday. I hope Dr. Agatston will take a look at some popular prepared foods and meal replacement bars and offer some guidelines. Watch those bars - the high protein bars are often high calorie and high fat! Three, there aren't as many options for those who don't like or don't eat meat as I would like. Unless you eat tofu, eggs, and nuts all the time your proteins seem limited (unless I've missed something). I've lost 6 lbs. in 2 weeks. Less than average but I'm also a small person to begin with. Where else can you lose weight like that and not feel deprived? I highly recommend you give this diet a try.
Rating: 
Summary: Dieting never tasted this good!
Review: I have been on and off various diets for over 25 years. Of the diets that worked, they were tasteless and usually left me hungry and irritable and I would always regain the weight.Not with The SouthBeach Diet! Meals are tasty. I'm never hungry and my energy level has soared. I love this program and am a lifer.
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe the Results
Review: I am so thrilled with my results so far. This is only my fourth day into the SBD and I have lost twleve pounds already. Of course, I have a long way to go since I'm trying to lose over eighty pounds. The SBD is very simple to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with a weight issue.
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Summary: diet: yay! book: hmm.......
Review: It's a truly effective diet, though any remarkably controlled eating program is going to work, if you actually follow it. (Is it any improvement over the Scarsdale Diet I followed decades ago, last time my weight got out of control? Not really. And am I never again going to crave--or eat--the bad carbs he proscribes for life? Heck, no. But be that as it may.) As a book, however, it leaves a lot to be desired. One needs to be very clever to figure out how to plug all the holes left behind in the editorial process, to say nothing of figuring one's way through the multiple contradictions. Some foods are peculiarly unmentioned, or mentioned, at best, in passing. (Onions, anyone?) And the fact that the book is virtually silent on the subject of exercise is a disgrace.
Rating:
Summary: Shame on you, Dr. Agatston !!!
Review: Not that South Beach is a bad diet. On the contrary, it's a very good diet. However, give credit where credit is due! Phase I is essentially the Atkins Diet; Phases II and III are basically the Zone Diet. However, I'm giving you an extra star for your ingenuity in combining the best parts of the two diets: Atkins for rapid weight loss and Zone for weight maintenance and good health and nutrition. I have been on both diets and know from experience.
Rating:
Summary: EVEN LOST 1 LB. ON VACATION AT DISNEY WORLD!
Review: This is the greatest diet ever! I feel absolutely fantastic on this diet--I've lost 11 pounds, (goal is 15) and even lost a pound last week on vacation at Disney World--not hard once you learn the rules of this diet. I never realzied how much my blood sugar was bouncing around until I started Phase II. I am recommending this diet to everyone. It's a real refinement of Atkins, only more healthful & practical. I don't think I'll have a problem staying on the Phase III for the rest of my life--the benefits are too great! I have so much energy. Excuse the gushing, but I think this diet would work for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Finally A Diet I Can Live With
Review: I have been a yo-yo dieter all of my life. As with quitting smoking (13 years ago) I have tried everything. It wasn't until I read and starting following the program in The South Beach Diet Book that I understand what was wrong with all the other diets. It's the carbs and fat stupid. I found that even when I go on and off the entire plan, as long as I can have the protein for breakfast, I don't gain back the tremendous amounts of weight as on all the other plans. When I follow the plan I find the loss to be significant and my body internally feels so much better. I would like to thank the publishers for putting this out in large print for all us Baby Boomers. It makes following the receipes so easy. I dont have to squint at the ingredients. I know there have been other low carb diets out their but I found them to restrictive and easy to abadoned and not start back. I would like to thank the dear doctor for his insite into the problem of fat and carbs together. The easy way of presenting the information to the readers makes it educational as well as being able to reference quickly. Thank you again.
Rating: 
Summary: HEY!!!!
Review: Put down the Big Mac. Kill your television. Get off the couch. Be not afraid. Live, damn-it! LIVE!!!
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