High Triglycerides & the South Beach Diet

Low carb dietary approaches like Atkins and the South Beach Diet often promise (and deliver) remarkable weight loss results. In addition to reducing waistlines, the South Beach Diet also has the impressive effect of positively improving cholesterol profiles, including an increase in HDL (the "good" cholesterol), a decrease in LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), and an improvement in triglyceride levels. Therefore, if you are suffering from high triglycerides, the South Beach Diet might be the answer.

South Beach Diet

Adhere to the South Beach Diet for as long as necessary to bring your triglyceride levels back under control. The South Beach Diet was designed by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist operating out of Miami. The plan itself is carb-restricted, which means that you are allowed to consume some limited types of carbs while on the plan, unlike most strict low-carb diets like Atkins, which require you to stay under a low daily carb threshold. The plan itself is divided into three phases. During phase one, you are to limit carb consumption, wholly removing fruits, whole grains, white flour, sugar, and alcohol from your diet, limiting your food intake to just meats, seafood, nuts, some dairy products, and vegetables. After two weeks in phase one, you move to phase two, reintroducing certain carbs like fruit and whole grains, in addition to being allowed to consume a glass or two of red wine every now and then. Once you reach your goal weight, you may move to phase three, which is the cessation of the diet itself--no foods are prohibited, but you should still adhere to the principles of the South Beach Diet a majority of the time.

South Beach Diet and Triglycerides

According to a study conducted by Kraft Foods in 2005, a carb-restricted diet (nearly identical to the South Beach approach) led to a heavy reduction in triglycerides coupled with improvements in cholesterol levels when compared to a low-fat dietary approach. Participants in the study were asked to follow a low-carb approach during the first two weeks of the plan, keeping their intake under 40g per day (as in phase one of the South Beach Diet). After this, they were allowed to reincorporate certain low-glycemic carbs like fruits and grains (as in phase two of the plan). At the end of the study, dieters on the low carb "South Beach" approach lost almost double the weight of the control low-fat group, saw three times the improvements in triglyceride levels, and experienced a massive improvement in HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio, making the South Beach Diet an ideal approach for treating high triglyceride levels.