Difference Between South Beach and Atkins

South Beach vs Atkins

Diet and weight loss have become a fad to the more health conscious public nowadays. In this regard, people try out every means necessary to come out with the ultimate figure. Diet is often the first step to achieve such a goal. There are lots of diet regimens around but two of which have become increasingly popular nowadays. These are the South Beach diet and the Atkins diet. The two have several similarities as well as differences.

Both diets concentrate on the idea of low carbohydrates. They are structured almost in the same manner. They both have the first phase, second phase and maintenance phases. They both start with a kind of restriction on certain foods for about 14 days. Atkin’s Induction phase is seen to be homologous to that of South Beach’s Phase I menus, although this can vary a bit depending on individual food preference. Slow addition of some carbohydrate rich foods is done during the second phases to spot the carbohydrate limit of the individual. After the desirable weight has been met, both diet regimens go for a maintenance stage. They base their food choices of what is considered to be good and what is bad carb on certain indices like the glycemic index for South Beach and carb ladder for the other. However, the carb ladder is also based from the glycemic index. As expected, both diets also stand firm against the consumption of foods rich in trans fats.

Despite all these similarities, the two diet regimens still hold some striking disparities. They have different views on fat advice. South Beach concentrates on decreasing saturated fat intake like butter or dark meat. It leans more on monounsaturated fats like olive oils. Omega-3 fatty acids are also not missed in the advice. On the contrary, Atkins diet advices diet enthusiasts to take in a variety of fats that includes a balance of, not only Omega-3 but also Omega-6. Too much intake of either one is discouraged. Provision of butter intake is much freer as well.

Counting carbohydrates is also somewhat different between the two. South Beach proposes carb portion counting as opposed to Atkin’s carb gram counting. This means that the latter counts all digestible carbohydrate-rich foods (non-fiber). You are asked to count the daily carbs eaten by the gram. Conversely, South Beach is seen to involve simpler carb counts. All other carb sources are included in the count by virtue of number or size of portions. Also, this diet doesn’t limit non-starchy veggies in the count.

1. Atkins uses the carb ladder whereas South Beach uses the glycemic index.

2. Atkins advices the intake of a balance of various fat sources that includes Omega-6 and saturated fats like butter unlike South Beach diet that limits butter intake and only concentrates on the provision of Omega-3.

3. Atkins involves carb gram counting whereas South Beach involves carb portion counting.

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