Beginnings
Both were developed by medical doctors (cardiologists) who — according to reports — were trying to help Americans lose weight given their high carb diets.

Atkins Diet was the first to be developed and is thus, the more popular. It was developed by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins as early as the 1972 but became more widely popular — despite the oppositions — in the 1990s.

Dr. Arthur Agatston, also a cardiologist but from Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla., is known as the father of the South Beach diet. His work came a lot later through his book: “The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss” published in 2003.

Similarities
Both popular diet plans advise dieters to avoid carbohydrates and follow stringent steps to ensure that the significant weight lost during the program does not come back.

Both start with the so-called induction phase where the body of the dieter is “trained” for the routine.

Both diet plans come with suggested food lists where dieters can mix and match foods to suit their tastes. Of course, like other diet plans, both plans advise dieters to stay away from food not included in the lists.

Among the “dont’s” in Dr. Atkins’ list are fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and some dairy products except cheese, cream, and butter.

Aside from fruit, bread, pasta and vegetables, South Beach dieters are also advised to stay away from potatoes, cereal, rice, and corn, especially for the first two weeks of the induction or introductory period. After this period, these can be slowly re-introduced into the body, albeit in smaller amounts.

Both diet plans have a lifetime “maintenance” phase where hopefully dieters will be so accustomed to either plan that they hardly recognize that they are dieting at all.

Differences
While both diet plans restrict carbohydrate intake, the South Beach diet is said to be more forgiving by not totally eliminating carbs. It distinguishes between “good” and “bad” carbs and even “good” and “bad” fats. South Beach encourages intake of “good” carbs and fats.

Low-sugar carbs with low glycemic index are “good” carbs under the South Beach plan. Food rich in fiber are also recommended.

Atkins’s diet routine helps the body to burn fat instead of carb. The goal is to help the dieter achieve good health. Atkins’s diet plan involves four phases while the South Beach plan has three phases.

In both plans, the introductory stage aims to condition the body for some changes to prepare for the program. In Atkins diet, the body is trained to burn fat instead of sugar to help curb the cravings for sugar and break addiction to some foods.

In South Beach diet, the initial phase involves cutting on high-carb foods, which can be gradually re-introduced in small amounts in the next phase. In this case, South Beach debunks myths that this approach prevents dieters from getting healthy mix from all food groups. Atkins dieters go through the next following phases: ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. The last two phases of South Beach diet are called re-introduce the carb and diet for life.

What’s key in the maintenance phase in Atkins is to keep portions of food at small amounts. Atkins diet guarantees no hunger deprivation because its long-term goal is healthy diet. South Beach’s promise is a “change in the way of eating,” with the dieter not recognizing at all that he is on a diet.

Summarizing the Diets

Developed by cardiologist Dr. Robert C. Atkins in 1972, with his “Diet Revolution”, a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.

The program focuses on a low-carbohydrate diet.

The Program has 4 phases:
1. induction phase (train the body to burn fats instead of carb)
2. ongoing weight loss
3. pre-maintenance
4. lifetime maintenance

South Beach Diet
Developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston of Miami, Florida, who in 2003, published the book “The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss”.

The program distinguishes between “good” and “bad” carbohydrates, and “good” and “bad” fats. Take in “good” carbs and fats.

The program has 3 phases:
1. 2-week introductory or induction phase (strictly no carbs)
2. re-introduce the carbs
3. diet for life

Please check http://www.OnlineDietReview.com for more information.

What’s great about it

The Atkins actually sets very few limits on the amount of food you eat, instead it only severely restricts the food that you put on your plate. This means, strictly no refined sugar, milk, white rice, white flour and the likes. This also translates into being allowed for you to eat foods that are traditionally regarded as “rich” like meat, eggs, cheese, etc and at the same time claims to reduce your appetite while in the process.

The Atkins diet is almost pure protein and fat where you can eat red meat, fish, fowl, and cheese, butter, mayo, tuna, and olive oil. In a nutshell, the Atkins Diet is For eating fat and protein, steady and sometimes rapid weight loss, reduced appetite, a Life-time approach to dieting, a reduced intake of sugars and processed grains and never be hungry again approach. However, Atkins is against vegetarians or vegans as it is a really meat-heavy diet, fibers and persons with osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer and renal disease. Sometimes it has below the recommended daily values for several vitamins and minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium.

The Carb Scare

The diet is based on the theory that too many carbohydrates lead too unwanted weight. Since our bodies burn both fat and carbohydrates for energy it is the carbs that are used first. Thus, drastically reducing carbs will let us naturally lose weight by burning the stored body fat efficiently. In this diet then, carbs are restricted to only about 20 grams per day in the first two weeks. This tantamount to around three cups of loosely packed salad with two-thirds cup of cooked vegetables each day.

In this diet, the first two weeks must be a rigid low-carb consumption week that is no fruits and only a few leafy green vegetables. This regimen is supposed to jump-start the weight-loss biochemistry of the diet. What makes this diet so convenient is that you need not count calories because you may be eating more calories than you actually were taking before. After the first week or so, the carb allowance is increased to include fiber-rich foods. You’re still kept away from refined sugar, milk, white rice, white potatoes, white bread or pasta for the rest of your life.

The Atkins Theory

The diet is centered on the theory that by restricting carbohydrates drastically, the body then goes into a state of ketosis to burn down its own fat for fuel. A person in ketosis is getting energy from little carbon fragments that are created by the breakdown of fat. In the state of ketosis you will tend to feel less hungry. However it also has a variety of unpleasant side effects like an unusual breath odor and constipation to some people. Because the body changes from carbohydrate-burning to fat-burning your body will now consume energy from your fat stores like the hips, belly, and thighs.

In details, a high-carbohydrate meal results to blood sugar rising high. To address this, the body then secretes insulin which allows extra sugar to be stored in the liver and muscle. However, these storage areas are rapidly filled thus the insulin has to convert any of the extra sugar into fat. According to Atkins, if the body keeps on making insulin to deal with the sugar it may become less responsive to insulin. The Atkins theory also states that the blood sugar level rises and then drops quickly in this situation. However, ketosis can burn up excess fat in time so that the body can return to normal metabolic functions, according to the Atkins theory. The carb consumption must be less than 40 grams a day for this kind of biochemical mechanism. You can also add up to this some sort of physical activity for ketosis, as well as a supplement with vitamins since you won’t be eating in as much vegetables and fruits.

More Than Just Weight Loss

Other than the weight-loss claims and success stories, the Center for Complementary Medicine in New York claims that people who follow the Atkins diet also do so for weight maintenance, good health, and disease prevention.

At the later part of the diet, fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain foods after the two-week induction period, are allowed. Along with this, the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance is marked by a gradually increasing intake of carbs as long as the gradual weight loss is maintained.

What Others Say

However, there has been a lot of negative feedback especially from known authorities about this diet, despite the high number of people who can attest for it.

Robert H. Eckel, MD, director of the general clinical research center at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver agrees says: “Our worries over the Atkins diet go way past the question of whether it is effective for losing weight or even for keeping weight off. We worry that the diet promotes heart disease. … We have concerns over whether this is a healthy diet for preventing heart disease, stroke, and cancer. There is also potential loss of bone, and the potential for people with liver and kidney problems to have trouble with the high amounts of protein in these diets.”

Gail Frank, PhD, spokeswoman for The American Dietetic Association and professor of nutrition at California State University in Long Beach, says: “The body needs a minimum of carbohydrates for efficient and healthy functioning — about 150 grams daily. Below that, normal metabolic activity is disrupted.

Volumetrics author Barbara Rolls, PhD, who holds the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Penn State University, says: “No one has shown, in any studies, that anything magical is going on with Atkins other than calorie restriction. The diet is very prescriptive, very restrictive, and limits half of the foods we normally eat,” she says. “In the end it’s not fat, it’s not protein, and it’s not carbs, its calories. You can lose weight on anything that helps you to eat less, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.”

Generally, the Atkins diet may be beneficial for losing quick weight before a major occasion. However, for a long-term basis it simply cannot work. The Atkins diet ignores realistic amounts of carbohydrates and is therefore an unbalanced diet.