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 enlarge | Author: Arthur Agatston
Publisher: Rodale Books
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
New (66) Used (137) Collectible (6) from $0.01
Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 2805
Media: Paperback
Edition: Rev Exp
Pages: 160
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 5 x 0.5
ISBN: 1594861986
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.25
UPC: 039697861984
EAN: 9781594861987
ASIN: 1594861986
Publication Date: April 19, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-35 of 73
Pretty helpful August 8, 2005
Math Mom (California)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
a pretty good reference for most foods. New kinds of foods are coming out all the time so it is a little behind on some things but up to date for the most part. I found it helpful.
 It's not a complete and easy reference as the title states December 8, 2004
Wayne (Union City, CA USA)
139 out of 150 found this review helpful
This review was written originally in December, 2004 and was about the first edition. Since then, a new edition has appeared, and some of the faults I found with the original book have been addressed. Since the original edition is still available, I have left my review intact. However, I have added comments at the end to address the changes. If you are planning to buy the revised edition, see the comments at the end too.
Original review:
If you are looking for a diet that is easy to follow, does not leave you hungry, is effective, nutritionally balanced, and improves your overall health, the South Beach Diet may be for you. In this companion book to The South Beach Diet book, Dr. Agatston lists many common foods, as well as whether they can be enjoyed in abundance, limited, or avoided completely. While this could have been done with a simple food list, this information is presented in a table that also lists carbs, sugar, and total fat.
The beginning of the book gives a brief overview of the diet, and a discussion of trans fats and why they should be avoided. It also has a discussion of the glycemic index. Although the recommendations in the book are based on glycemic index, glycemic load, and other factors, this information does NOT appear in the tables, purportedly because it's not available for all foods. Leaving it out for that reason, even when known, defies credibility.
As followers of this diet know, it's not about following the glycemic index, or counting calories or carbs. While the GI may serve as a guideline to let you know where foods fit in, it can also be misleading since some foods with similar GI values may not be of equal value to your diet. All this is explained in the main diet book, which gives a brief list of GI values for common foods. Likewise, we are told that total fat is not the big factor, but how much is saturated or trans fat vs unsaturated fats is important. That distinction is not made in the tables, which list total fat.
If a strict look at those factors is not a necessary part of the diet, then why are they in the table? That's not clear. The portion that describes how to use the guide acknowledges that you need not be a slave to the numbers, but the real advice ultimately boils down to following the main diet book, in which case all but the last column (whether and how much to eat) seems irrelevant.
The other problem is that this supposedly complete book is far from complete. It has too many entries for items that are obviously not allowed on the diet, and few entries for what might be suitable substitutes.
If you look at breakfast foods for instance, you'll find bacon and eggs, cereals, and pancakes. Yet you won't find French toast. You may be able to figure it out based on the rules from the diet book, but then why do you need this book? It's not as if processed foods or foods prepared from recipes that may vary were left out. There seems to be no rationale for what's included.
If you do look at cereal, you will find a couple of pages of cereals that are limited or should be avoided completely. But do I really need this book to tell me to avoid Frosted Flakes and Corn Pops if I know how the diet works? Yet if I look at the myriad "healthy" cereals in my supermarket, not one of them is listed in this book. The same is true for the ones in natural food stores, even if they are available nationwide.
I might be able to figure out on my own that Uncle Sam cereal is a good choice, but then why buy the book? On the other hand, I might find another supposedly healthful cereal, and the label may show me that it's whole grain and high in fiber, but has more sugar than I would want. It's foods like these for which I would like the book to give me an idea if it's acceptable.
There are way too many common foods left off the list, which is surprising considering the exhaustive permutations and combinations listed for others. I don't need five pages to tell me that all baked and broiled fish is good, but breaded fish is not. If it's the recommendation that counts, I don't need a separate entry for tuna, canned, light, in water, and different ones for dark tuna in all its permutations, when ultimately, they fall into the same recommendation as other fish.
The bottom line is that if you stick to the main diet book, and manage to work around the flaws in the way it was written, you won't need this guide. This book might be helpful if you are on Atkins or even Weight Watchers, however.
UPDATE:
Although the original edition listed only the total amount of fat for each entry, the new edition lists both total fat and saturated fat. It also lists recommendations based on the phase of the diet, which makes more sense than the former blanket recommendation.
Saturated fats and trans-fats are culprits in a bad diet, so it's good to know the balance of "good fats" to "bad fats." Since trans fats are not listed, a reader cannot assume that whatever is not saturated is a "good fat." But since trans-fat levels will not be listed on nutrition labels until 2006, the advice given to read the ingredient list is the most sensible solution for now. This new way of listing fats is a welcome improvement, and the remaining issue with trans-fat listing is the fault of the food manufacturers, not the book.
The new edition covers many more foods, but still lacks much of what was missing in the first edition. I had mentioned that Uncle Sam cereal was inexplicably missing from the tables, and now it is there. So are many others, especially ones that are co-branded Kraft/South Beach Diet foods. This latter point seems a bit self serving. I doubt that anybody would reasonably expect that South Beach Diet foods would not be compatible with the diet, so it really adds little practical value. Other commonly available cereals that may border on acceptability are still missing, and those are the ones I would use a guide for.
As supermarkets add more and more whole grain foods, it would be helpful if they appeared in a guide such as this. For example, whole grain waffles that are as low in sugar and higher in fiber than SBD branded foods are now easy to find in the market, but are still not in this guide. Many common breakfast cereals are now marketed as whole grain and it's not necessarily clear why they are listed the way they are.
I wondered why something like SBD Whole Grain Crunch was listed as "good" for phase two and three, but Cheerios is listed as "limited," meaning once a week at most. They are identical in calories and almost identical in carbohydrates. But the SBD cereal has four times the sugar and only a gram more fiber. Then I noticed that both this edition and the previous one list six grams of sugar for Cheerios, while the cereal package lists only one gram per serving. A taste test makes it clear that it's the book that's wrong here. While I doubt that it's a deliberate effort to promote his own foods over competing products, having a guide book with such gross errors raises questions. I don't need a book to tell me to avoid virtually all commercial cereals except for the South Beach Diet branded ones.
The book continues to list total carbohydrates, while at the same time, telling the reader that total carbohydrates are irrelevant. Perhaps this column listing would help somebody who is on the Atkins diet, but the author is not recommending the Atkins diet.
The second edition is an improvement over the first edition. If a food is listed as good for a given phase, it's probably a good food to eat. But if it's not listed, reading the ingredients and the nutrition label for the food is still the best bet. Skimming through the book may help to give an idea of what foods are good or bad, but if you are in a supermarket, the package in front of you may be a better indicator than the book.
If you feel that it's more important to gain a strong understanding of how the diet works and to be able to figure out on your own what foods will work, then the main diet book is much more helful for that. If you are more interested in picking foods and using recipes because somebody gives it a stamp of approval, and you don't want to risk making a bad choice, then using this guide in conjunction with the South Beach Diet cook books will provide you with tools you need.
 Small & Compact Guide for a Great Diet November 10, 2004
Dorothy Koeller (Palm Beach , Florida)
13 out of 23 found this review helpful
The diet is great because it allows more food types than other Atkin's type diets, but still allows for bigger portions of the right foods. There is a beginning strict phase and then a more laxed phase like Atkins. This seems more sensible than Atkins though. There are less hunger pains on this diet than other types of diets and the fat comes off fast. Good small guide for a great diet. I recommend to anyone who is trying to lose weight (or make positive changes of other types) the amazing book "Effortless Wellbeing" by Evan Finer. That book will give you a simple way to feel better no matter what you weigh, will help you win the weight loss battle, and help you stay tuned to what is important-- generally make your more powerful and successful. Wonderful highly recommended books!! Good luck!
Very Good Book!! August 30, 2004
K. Timmons21
6 out of 25 found this review helpful
This book helped me with my weight loss. I recommend it highly!
sheunlimited.com Reviews "She Unlimited Magazine August 9, 2004
She Unlimited Magazin www.sheunlimited.com (World Wide)
11 out of 17 found this review helpful
There are masses of carbohydrate diets like the Atkins Diet and The Zone. Now Ham tons diet meets South Beach. I think most of us know the reason for it's creative principle of lowering cholesterol for Dr A`s patients and those with diabetes. The diets regimen is based on the consumption of complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and lean fats and proteins. It eliminates simple carbohydrates almost entirely (sweets, pasta, most bread, etc.) and aggressively restricts carbohydrate consumption during the weight loss phase of the diet, similar to Atkins.
This type of diet is simply going to lower caloric intake for those who follow it, consequently weight loss. I still think calories count, although you can eat what you want from the allowed foods list, if you overtake in calories....well, some experience no weight loss. However over time your hungry will subside and you will then naturally take in a less amount of food.
The book does focus on decreased carbohydrate consumption in a healthier manner, but the book falls into the trap of marketing itself in a similar manner as all fad diets: they clearly know what appeals to desperate, overweight people and they use the common buzzwords in this business such as, "lose weight fast", "13 Pounds in 2 weeks", "cravings were gone", "never unsatisfied." Overly optimistic claims are certainly dubious when lasting weight loss is difficult, as we all know.
Which diet does not, how else to get the market moving without such BUZZ words. It is essential. And this diet makes diet sense. It is easy to follow, some find it hard finding the low fat ricotta cheese, but other then that it is a simple lay out plan for regular people and not geared toward the fitness enthusiastic.
Keep in mind once you reach your goal you can have your loved (no so healthy foods) in moderation..
It takes hard and adding some source of exercise into the program just helps to build you metabolism.
sheunlimited.com Reviews "She Unlimited Magazine
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