The South Beach Diet Vs The Keto Diet

It appears that the ketogenic diet, often referred to as “keto,” is becoming increasingly popular. Many individuals have experienced great success with this low-carb diet in terms of weight loss.

It could be observed that the rules of the keto diet are quite alike to those of the South Beach Diet. The South Beach Diet has recently modified all of their plans so that they follow the same principles as a ketogenic diet.

What is the contrast between South Beach and the keto diet, and which one is superior?

The South Beach Diet is a regimen that is compatible with the ketogenic diet, and it focuses on sending you pre-measured, nutritious meals on a monthly basis. The meals they offer are loaded with lean protein and fiber, which helps to maintain a sense of satiety for a longer period of time.

The program has 3 phases. The first week-long step of Phase 1 is designed to be the most limiting in order to end any unhealthy dietary practices and motivate your body to begin using fat instead of carbohydrates as fuel.

By studying our assessment or going to SouthBeachDiet.com, you can gain further insight into The South Beach Diet.

About Ketosis

“Ketosis” is the most important concept to understand with the keto diet, so here’s a quick overview of what ketosis actually is:

Typically, your body relies on carbohydrates from food as its primary energy source. When carbohydrates are limited, your body will begin to use fat as an energy source and will produce ketones as energy in the process.

The process of burning fat is referred to as “ketosis.” When carbohydrates are reduced, ketosis is usually attained within 3-4 days and it often causes one to lose weight rapidly.

Positive side-effects of being in ketosis include:

1. Weight loss
2. Decreased appetite
3. Increased focus
4. More energy

It is important to note that some of the common drawbacks of ketosis are bad breath and difficulty sleeping. (At least no one else is up right now to get a whiff of your unpleasant breath!)

It is necessary to be in a state of ketosis for the keto diet, but it is not necessary for the South Beach Diet. This text is comparing the similarities and differences between the Keto Diet and the South Beach Diet.

Keto-Friendly Foods To Eat

• Healthy fats like butter, lard, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, heavy cream, and macadamia nut oil
• Nuts like almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, and macadamia nuts
• Proteins like animal protein, fatty fish, whey protein, and vegan protein powder
• Non starchy vegetables that are high in fiber and low in carbs
• A limited amount of low-carb fruits like berries, lemons, and limes

Foods To Avoid On Keto

• High-carb foods like grains, starchy vegetables, and most fruits
• Anything with added sugar
• Refined foods, including industrial seed oils

To find out all the food items that are suitable for a ketogenic diet, take a look at this thorough list of keto-compliant foods.

South Beach Diet vs Keto

Both the South Beach Diet and the ketogenic diet have shown excellent results in aiding short-term weight loss, yet they are not as effective in helping people maintain long-term weight loss. That’s likely because both of them have relatively limited food options.

Do you love pasta? If you do not think that reducing carbohydrates is a good idea, the South Beach Diet and Keto are probably not suitable for you, as they both rely heavily on cutting back on carbs.

Keto and South Beach have a few points in common. It can be said that being on the ketogenic diet is comparable to Step 1 of the South Beach Diet, which requires fewer carbohydrates and sugars than the following stages.

A keto diet restricts the amount of carbohydrates consumed to between 20 and 50 grams per day. Although the majority of ketogenic diets restrict carb intake to lower amounts than South Beach, that amount is consistent with South Beach’s “Keto-Friendly” plan, and the initial phase of their normal diet.

In Phase 1 of South Beach, you may consume up to 40 grams of carbohydrates each day. This daily amount of carbs increases to 50 grams during Phase 2.

Think about it: two pieces of bread or one apple each have 25g of carbohydrates, and a slice of pizza has more than 35g of carbs. The truth is that cutting carbs isn’t easy!

Both Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet and Keto include not having starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, etc.) and whole grains, which are normally loaded with carbs.

But, aren’t veggies and whole grains good for you?

Definitely, but the fundamental part of the keto and South Beach diets is to change your body’s energy source from carbohydrates to fat, so any vegetables you eat must be of the low-carb type.

To accomplish this, the keto and South Beach diets reduce carbohydrate intake so that your body uses fat as an alternative energy source. I refer to it as “the big switch,” and it is essential for both diet plans to be effective.

South beach isn’t truly low-carb

In the ketogenic diet, you restrict the number of carbohydrates you consume to less than 10% of your total caloric intake. This stops the elevation of blood sugar and insulin and maintains you in a state of ketosis.

The South Beach diet does not set out specific limits on carbohydrates. At the beginning of the diet, carbohydrates are limited, but as you move further into it more of them are included.

An example of this would be that South Beach permits whole grains, root vegetables, legumes, and fruits to be part of the majority of the program. Certain edibles such as sweet potatoes possess an abundance of vitamins and minerals. Others, like pasta, bread and rice are not.

South Beach sanctions grains

Whole grains are controversial. Some say they’re healthy because they contain fiber. Some people contend that grains should not be included in a healthy diet. The anti-grain camp makes a strong case. Whole wheat, for instance, contains:

• Gluten: A wheat protein that provokes intestinal damage. This is true even in those without celiac disease, a condition marked by gluten autoimmunity.
• Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA): Another wheat protein linked to gut disorders.
• Lectins: Plant proteins that can damage the intestines and create autoimmune issues.
• Phytic acid: A plant-based compound that prevents nutrients from being absorbed.

Traditional diets such as the ketogenic and paleo diets forbid the consumption of grains.

Quality of evidence

Keto and South Beach are both promoted as being helpful for weight loss. What does the published evidence say?

For South Beach, not much. A research study that involved 20 individuals with overweight and obesity revealed that they shed approximately 11 pounds in 12 weeks while on the South Beach diet. However, because there was no comparison group, the outcomes are uncertain.

A different study concluded that only 33% of the dietary information from the South Beach book was backed up by scholarly research. That’s most of the book!

The keto diet is not based on a famous book, rather it is based on scientific data that has been gathered since the 1920s. Numerous randomized controlled studies have indicated that the keto diet can assist with losing weight, controlling appetite, improving mental acuity, reversing diabetes, and many other benefits.

Keto allows saturated fat

Keto diets permit the ingestion of saturated fats, for example coconut oil and butter, yet restrict polyunsaturated vegetable oils like soybean and peanut oil. The South Beach diet has a different opinion: it believes that saturated fat is bad, and vegetable oils are beneficial.

Saturated fat has been seen as a major contributor to heart disease, however the evidence does not support that claim. It has been found that there is no connection between eating saturated fat and heart disease, according to two studies that looked at a large number of research papers.

Consuming too much of the vegetable oils with a high omega 6 content can be problematic. Experts are of the opinion that the swelling caused by the intake of vegetable oil is partly responsible for the weight issue in the United States.

Cooking with veggie oils is even worse. When heated, these fats produce oxidized lipids, which are bad substances that speed up the development of heart illness. Saturated fat, however, is safe for cooking.

Choosing Between Keto and South Beach

The Standard American Diet is improved upon by both the keto and South Beach diets. Eliminating sugar and pre-packaged foods can have a significant impact on improving your wellbeing.

The main difference between the keto and South Beach? Carbs and fats.

For two weeks, South Beach has you reducing your intake of carbohydrates, but it is not as restrictive as the ketogenic diet. You will not achieve ketosis, which has been connected to numerous health advantages, when following the South Beach diet.

South Beach also favors vegetable oils over saturated fats. This is concerning due to the fact that vegetable oils have been associated with inflammation, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

South Beach Diet Phases

The South Beach Diet has three stages, each of which is less restricted than the one before it.

• Phase 1: Eat lean protein, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (but not saturated) fats, nuts, avocados, and low-carb vegetables. Nearly all carbs are eliminated, including fruit juice, alcohol, whole grains, and fruit. Phase 1 lasts two weeks.
• Phase 2: Continue with foods from Phase 1 and reintroduce whole grains, starchy vegetables, and fruits. Stay in Phase 2 until you hit your weight loss target.
• Phase 3: This “maintenance phase” allows all foods in moderation. You’re advised, however, to stick with the basic Phase 2 setup.

Expert Reviews

U.S News recently consulted a panel of health and diet professionals to evaluate and compare Keto and South Beach Diet based on several critical criteria. Here’s how they compare:

It is evident that specialists give a lower rating to the Keto diet than to the South Beach Diet. This is primarily because of two reasons:

• Keto is a restrictive diet, making it harder to follow
• Keto is not a healthy diet, especially long-term

Most experts are not in favor of the keto diet due to its limited attention paid to achieving overall health and wellness, rather than just short-term weight loss. Most commercial diets have become more focused on overall health and wellbeing, instead of solely concentrating on reducing weight.

So Weight Watchers rebranded to “WW” and apps such as Noom don’t even mention the word “diet” in any context.

In reality, following a ketogenic diet can be detrimental, particularly for those with diabetes. If high levels of ketones develop, it’s dangerous. This could result in medical troubles such as ketoacidosis; a very serious state in which the acidity of one’s blood increases. Before beginning any diet, particularly the keto diet, make sure to consult your doctor if you have diabetes.

Health professionals give the South Beach Diet a much better score than the keto diet.

Ketosis in the Keto-Friendly plan

The aim of this plan is not to maintain ketosis, but rather to consume no more than 50g of carbohydrates each day to get the body into ketosis.

Restricting your carb intake during the first two stages of the South Beach Diet Keto-Friendly Strategy should result in substantial weight loss, even if your body does not remain in ketosis.

On SouthBeachDiet.com they state:

Meals that can be incorporated into a ketogenic diet plan that are made up of 40-50g of total net carbs daily. These meals are not created to help people reach or keep a state of nutritional ketosis.

This approach differs greatly from the keto diet, which sees keeping in ketosis as an essential part of the regimen.

The final verdict

Keto and South Beach are two widely recognized diets that restrict carbohydrate intake in order to promote rapid weight loss.

Although both strategies have demonstrated effectiveness in helping people slim down in the short-term, they are not as successful in helping them maintain their weight loss over the long-term. So, which diet wins in a head-to-head battle?

Experts have determined that the South Beach Diet is a better option than the keto diet.

And, if you are looking to try keto, then the keto-friendly South Beach Diet is a good, less-restrictive way to do it:

Nevertheless, this doesn’t signify that this is the best diet for you. Keto has gained a lot of attention due to its effectiveness at resulting in rapid weight loss. If adhered to correctly, and only for a short period, the ketogenic diet can be effective in aiding weight loss and aiding in a healthier lifestyle if used as part of a larger plan.