Definition of The South Beach Diet

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The South Beach Diet: The South Beach Diet is a weight loss plan described by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD in a best-selling book, The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss. The South Beach Diet is based upon the restriction of carbohydrates ("carbs") in the diet and forbids consumption of potatoes, fruit, bread, cereal, rice, pasta, beets, carrots, and corn for the first two weeks (the induction phase). After that, most of these foods remain strongly discouraged, but some carbohydrate consumption is allowed. Instead of counting the grams of carbohydrates in a particular food, The South Beach Diet looks at the type of carbohydrates contained in the food. Eating low-sugar carbs -- those with a low glycemic index (they don't cause the blood sugar levels to rise and fall as quickly) is allowed, whereas sugar-laden carbohydrates are forbidden.

The final stage of The South Beach Diet is designed to be a diet for life, based upon eating normal foods in normal portions, following a few basic guidelines.