What are the Health Risks of the South Beach Diet?

The South Beach Diet is a knockoff of the Atkins Diet; both diets are based on low carbohydrate consumption as the way to fast weight loss. There are serious health risks involved with being on a low-carbohydrate diet.

Mercury

The South Beach Diet recommends a fairly high amount of fish. The diet does not compensate for the dangerous levels of mercury that are present in high fish intakes, nor does it suggest substituting the fish with fish oil supplements.

Aspartame

The South Beach Diet also recommends using aspartame, which has been proved to be dangerous, with links to diabetes and cancer, says the Mayo Clinic.

Unsaturated Fats

The Mayo Clinic claims that the South Beach Diet promotes the use of unsaturated fats. There is a very high omega-6 content in unsaturated fats, which distorts the healthy omega 3:6 balance. This upset is one of the leading causes of chronic degenerative disease.

Cholesterol

The South Beach Diet is neither appropriate nor optimized for normalizing cholesterol. Therefore, it recommends that supplements be used to accommodate this. Supplements that balance cholesterol are associated with many dangers.

Ketoacidosis

The South Beach Diet restricts carbohydrates, especially in phase 1. When the body lacks in glucose (which aids in energy), also called ketoacidosis, it is very dangerous to the body, and can often result in coma or death, according to the Mayo Clinic.