South Beach Diet plays good carb, bad carb

Just when you converted to the belief that all carbs are bad and accepted everything meat as your personal obesity savior, along comes a new philosophy to mess it up.

Another church has sprung up in Cellulite City. It's called the South Beach Diet, and cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston is thumping a sermon of good vs. evil, or good carbs and fats vs. bad ones.

His book, "The South Beach Diet" (Rodale, $24.95), is riding high on The New York Times best seller list of advice tomes, besting "Atkins for Life" by the late Dr. Robert Atkins.

Agatston testifies for physical activity, but many Americans prefer to exorcise rather than exercise, opting for fad diets to rid their fat demons.

Agatston invented his own diet after becoming disillusioned with what his book calls the low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet of the American Heart Association and the high-fat preachings of Atkins.

His diet falls somewhere between the two, and he promises results - the loss of eight to 13 pounds in two weeks and one to two pounds per week after that.

The initial weight loss, however, will be mostly water, says Diane Fischer, chief clinical dietitian for Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Mich.

That's because the initial part of the diet cuts out most carbohydrates, which causes the body to use energy that is stored with water in the muscles.

"It's not magic," Fischer says.

As gimmicky as it sounds to smite one's fat in two short weeks, Fischer likes some of what Agatston advocates. His commandments:

- Eat fewer processed foods.

- Have two healthful snacks a day.

- After the first two weeks, eat from all of the food groups.

"It doesn't sound like the gimmick thing lasts too long," Fischer said, adding the South Beach Diet appeared better than the low-carb Atkins plan.

The American Heart Association, which is no fan of low-carb diets, has yet to take a position on the South Beach plan. In many ways, though, the initial phase of the new diet is similar to the Atkins philosophy.

For the first 14 days, South Beach dieters should avoid bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked goods, sugar and fruit.

They can eat meat, whole eggs, low-fat cheeses and vegetables. And like Atkins dieters, they don't have to worry about portion sizes.

After two weeks, though, the similarities with the Atkins plan lessen as Agatston encourages followers to add many carbohydrates back into their meal plans.

The South Beach Diet has its skeptics.

"There are too many diets out there," says Melvin LeBlanc, a 31-year-old bodybuilder, who works out six days a week.

"People who have less body fat and are healthy are people who can pass up a dessert," he says.

LeBlanc is devoted to the belief that moderation is good. That means balanced meals with foods from all of the food groups and regular exercise.

That might be one of the strong points of the South Beach Diet. Agatston preaches that people should allow themselves an occasional sinful indulgence, like a piece of chocolate. He recognizes that the world is full of temptation, and if a diet is too difficult to follow, people will become disillusioned and stray from the righteous path.