From: http://www.mercola.com/2004/jun/9/south_beach.htm
Twelve Reasons to Avoid the South Beach Diet
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]By Dr. Joseph Mercola
with Brian Vaszily[/font]
Overall I believe
The South Beach Diets success is a powerful influence in several important respects. With sales in the millions,
The South Beach Diet has joined the groundbreaking Atkins Diet in prompting deeper inquiry into the value of low-carbohydrate dieting, and has been central to making lower-carb cuisine more widely available. Just as important, it has also helped to destroy the dangerous myth -- a myth that prevailed for thirty years -- that low-fat dieting is safe and effective.
That said -- and as a physician with over two decades of clinical experience who is highly respected for my dietary program, with a New York Times bestseller of my own, and most importantly, who maintains strict adherence to the Hippocratic oath to "first do no harm" -- I would never recommend
The South Beach Diet to any of my patients. In fact, Id like to warn everyone about the dangers of adopting Dr. Agatstons popular diet.
If you know anyone on or considering The South Beach Diet, pleasedocument.write ( "
forward this article to them" );
forward this article to them so that they can make an informed decisionFirst, I have great respect for Rodale Press, the books publisher. They also publish Prevention Magazine, which I used to read regularly back in the 1970s (one of their articles in fact inspired me to select
osteopathic medicine as opposed to a traditional M.D. school), and the
www.prevention.com website, which is the number two natural health website on the Internet behind only my own,
www.Mercola.com. Rodale is also an exceptionally astute and effective marketing company, which leads me to my first point:
"
The South Beach Diet must be a worthwhile diet," a widely prevalent logic goes, "or else it wouldnt have sold millions of copies!"
By now Americans ought to know that just because something sells well it doesnt mean that its worth buying, and yet the flawed logic above prevails. Bottom line is, the major reason for
The South Beach Diets success is that Rodale has spent in excess of one million dollars
per month to promote this book. A marketing budget of that size could turn a bicycle repair manual into a major bestseller.
Whats more, according to various reports that are easily accessible by searching Google, with all theyve spent on marketing the book versus all the books sales, it is my understanding that Rodale has actually taken a loss on the book. Theyre a clever company, though, and I believe that loss is only temporary, serving more so as an investment in their ever expanding publishing empire. But dont be swayed by the books phenomenal sales -- there are many reasons for you to avoid jumping on the
South Beach bandwagon. I list twelve important ones below that should be enough to help you think twice about this diet that is synonymous with "fad" (in all honesty, I could write an entire book pointing out how misguided Dr. Agatstons diet is, but I am hoping twelve suffice here for you to think twice about this diet):
Reason 1: Gets the "Good" Carbs Wrong -- At the Risk of Many Peoples Health
Dr. Agatston promotes the concept that I have long recommended and detail in my
TOTAL HEALTH Program--there are good carbs that you should be consuming and bad carbs you should avoid. But then, on the simplest levels, he gets the "good" carbs wrong, including promoting both whole grain breads and fruits as good carbs. This advice can seriously impair the health of the
millions of people in this country with sub clinical gluten sensitivity. It is also a prescription for disaster for the large number who have high carbohydrate sensitivity and struggle with controlling their insulin. It is best that ALL grains and sugars (fruits, as opposed to vegetables, have high sugar content) be avoided until
insulin levels are normalized.
Reason 2: Severely Misguided Advice Can Lead to Dangerous Levels of Mercury and PCBs in You
Dr. Agatston recommends fish, displaying absolutely no understanding that nearly all fish from every type of water source are now contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury and PCBs from generations of water pollution from coal plants and other sources. Mercury and PCBs can lead to all kinds of very serious disease including neurological disorders.
The dangerous levels of toxins in fish is not hearsay but a warning that has been issued by many health practitioners and major health and government agencies--even the very conservative
EPA advises pregnant women to avoid fish --and I have witnessed the epidemic with thousands of patients in my own clinic.
Either Agatston is not aware of this important issue or decided not to cover it; no mention is made that, to safely avoid the mercury and PCB issue in fish while still getting proper omega-3 intake,
substituting clean sources of bottled or capsule fish oil is by far the wisest option.
Moreover, a USA Today report suggested that it would cost over $90 a week to follow the misguided fish intake recommended by
The South Beach Diet anyway.
Reason 3: Advice on Milk May Worsen a Common Allergy
Dr. Agaston freely advocates commercial pasteurized milk. He is obviously unaware of the major problems many people have with pasteurized casein and its prevalence as one of the most common food allergies (further, as he is positioning himself as a dietary expert, he should be aware and note that many people aren't even yet aware they have this allergy).
Though consuming raw (unpasteurized) milk is still a controversial topic, for some people many of the problems they experience with pasteurized milk disappear when they consume clean milk in its raw state (raw milk is becomingly
increasingly available again). However, even in a clean, raw state many still are unable to tolerate it. The point is, none of this essential information that impacts many people is covered in
The South Beach Diet.
Reason 4: Buys Into the Old Myth of Saturated Fat -- at Your Expense
Dr. Agatston fortunately does not buy into the myth that eggs are bad (eggs can be quite healthy for you, especially organic eggs), but he is still under the delusion that saturated fat is bad for everyone. Like carbohydrates, though, some high quality saturated food is not merely okay but
needs to be part of a truly healthy diet. What matters, as with carbs and all macronutrients, is that you are getting your saturated fat from a clean and healthy source such as organic virgin coconut oil. (Search "saturated fat" on Mercola.com for more on this issue.)
Reason 5: Recommends Aspartame ... Widely Recognized as a Health Hazard
Though NutraSweet/aspartame has been shown in many studies to be dangerous, linked to a wide range of diseases such as cancer and diabetes and various emotional disorders (read "
Articles on Aspartame" on Mercola.com or input "aspartame" into the Mercola.com search engine), Dr. Agatston actually encourages its use in
The South Beach Diet.
Reason 6: Dangerous Misguidance on a Serious Trans-Fat Issue
Perhaps Dr. Agatstons most significant oversight is his lack of understanding of trans fats. Early in the book he states that trans-fats are dangerous and need to be avoided, yet on page 54 he makes the outrageous claim that French fries and potato chips are healthier choices than baked potatoes because of the "fat in which theyre cooked." This is extremely dangerous misinformation, as French fries and potato chips tend to be profoundly high in trans fats and are amongst the unhealthiest foods on the planet.
I perceive this statement as irrefutable evidence of his nutritional ignorance. I cant possibly imagine anyone with even a minimum amount of nutritional biochemical education making a recommendation like that. Although Dr. Agatston is a cardiologist as Dr. Atkins was, he was never part of the pioneering group of physicians who understood nutrition as it relates to health (which Atkins was). I have some disagreements with Dr. Atkins' program, but they are relatively minor compared to my objections with
The South Beach Diet. Dr. Atkins would never have advocated eating French fries or potato chips. These foods are the toxic equivalent of a cigarette and should be avoided like the plague.
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This 3-day weekend has my week totally messed up, but that's cool! 
