This is week two of induction for my husband, and I'm joining him in support, although I've been doing Atkins for a year. He really doesn't need to lose much weight, but he has accumulated a lot of belly fat over the years, and his doctor says he's got to bring his blood sugar under control.

I thought South Beach might be more flexible for him than Atkins, so I bought the book today. However, at a glance, it appears that the only "flexibility" is that South Beach restricts FATS as well as carbs. Bummer.

We're not overindulging in "bad" fats as it is. However, I just wondered if anyone had experience with both plans and could give me an overview.

P. S. Hubby will be disappointed to learn that Wonder Bread isn't on anyone's plan!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/137/130

I read the book about a month ago, mostly out of curiosity. I am staying on Atkins at least for now, so I can not speak from experience, but...

Basically (as far as I remember off the top of my head) Agatston believes in low saturated fat, increasing unsaturated fat, and using the glycemic index. He also wanted to not be as “restrictive” with normal foods, as he believed that it is unreasonable to ask people to give them up permanently. My impression of SB flexibility was that it allowed people to occasionally go back to “bad” foods i.e. the main difference was that you can choose to eat regular ice cream, pizza, chocolate, or your favorite junk food maybe once a month (after his version of induction). IMHO it is counterproductive considering that you will just re-activate all your cravings.

Started on 9/20/03
235-->195; 160 goal

Whoa, Paladin said it so effectively in that last sentence!

I think SB is just Atkins with a gimmick. It tries to respond to criticism of Atkins being a heart-attack-in-the-making by pushing "good fats" and egg beaters and things like that. Which, of course, is unnecessary because peer-reviewed studies have since proven that Atkins improves blood lipid levels just fine without any modifications.

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"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

Thanks for your responses. I've also noted the thread in the Articles forum on A vs SB.

After skimming the book, I gather that he's trashing Atkins mostly on the basis of the "bad fat" evaluation. Since we know that's wrong, there's not much new in Agatston's approach.

There seem to be some good recipes and meal plans in the book, along with informative chapters about diabetes and heart disease. So not a bad investment.

Atkins is simple, wholesome, liveable. I think we'll stay the course!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/137/130