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South Beach can be good-if you love to cook or if you can translate what is "needed" into your own time limits.

Pros-

It basically is an easy diet to understand and, after Stage I, does not deprive you of many foods you love

It is healthy, even at Stage I which is severe. Andtwo weeks of a stringent diet really won't affect your health unless you have certain health problems. ALWAYS check any diet with your doctor if you have health issues.

It does balance blood sugars by encouraging the use of complex carbohydrates, rather than quick-fix sugars and white flours (all the way through the program). These also allow your body better nutrients.

It quickly does shed water weight (but then EVERY diet I've ever tied does this first, including pure calorie counting types).

Cons-

If you don't work out your own vegetable and other alternatives, the early part of the diet, especially, can add an enormous amount to your food budget. Fresh vegetables are expensive in the winter if you don't live in a truly warm climate. And don't, for the most, taste all that well when purchased at a grocery store. I'd go for frozen veggies instead. And eat a few raw zucchini, cabbage hunks, etc. for the fresh veggies that don't go down too much in taste when not fresh.

Unless you can work the "needed" ingredients into your own eating habits and recipes, the SB recipes probably are more complicated than working people can do every day of the year. I mostly work the principles into what I plan to eat when I'm short of time, but do, often, use their recipes when I have time; they are delicious.

In the end, this diet is one on which you must take final control of the amount you eat. But you can eat enough to not get so hungry that you binge.

On the whole, I'd say the pros outweigh the cons. Again, if you have any medical condition, check with a doctor before tackling Stage I for those two short weeks. After that, it's an extremely healthy diet that I wouldn't worry about at all. Just do read through it and make your own innovations on when you don't have time to cook a whole lot. Or buy some of their frozen dinners for fast meals-they are good, and as nearly as I can find, the healthiest on the market. I'm diabetic so I really read the ingredient labels. South Beach is healthy!

Learn more about this author, Margaret Shauers.
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