LOW CARB RECIPES TO SOUTH BEACH INFO

For Phase 1 the recipes are nearly identical to Atkins, except that South Beach Diet never uses saturated fats like real butter and real whipping cream, etc. It recommends low fat but not fat free varieties of cheeses and of course no sugar added to any recipes. For fats and oils to make recipes taste good and be moist, etc., South Beach uses Olive Oil, Canola Oil, and the "healthy fats" spreads like "Smart Balance" and others that specifically say "No Transfatty Acids". For the heavy whipping cream in some recipes, he would instead use Skim Milk or Skim evaporated milk for a creamier recipe. South Beach is not nearly so carb-restrictive as Atkins, so Skim Milk and low-fat milk products are fine. But basically Phase 1 restricts all fruit, grains, and saturated/trans fats, and allows all vegetables except Potatoes and nearly all nuts. So much freer than Atkins in that respect.

Phase 2 begins allowing some of the other grains and fruits into the diet. Always recommends eating the fruit/grains in as "whole" form as possible. So again many of the Atkins products work well here--whole wheat pasta and breads, but they don't have to be so very low carb as Atkins, and again he never allows liberal amounts of the fats like butter, whole milk, etc., as Atkins does.

Phase 3 is the "lifelong" portion, and basically is eating "normally", but substituting healthier versions of high-sugar/refined carb staples. Again also restricting the saturated fats.

South Beach focuses on limiting "bad" fats (the saturated fats, transfatty acids, etc.,) and limiting "bad" carbs--little to no refined flour, refined grains/rice, no white potatoes, no sugar obviously. Basically nearly any Atkins recipe can be converted to a South Beach recipe by using an unsaturated source for the fats, using egg whites more often in place of whole eggs, that sort of thing. The only problem is, it does change the flavor and texture of some items, so without testing them a little, it is hard to know if they will be satisfactory with the change.