When I describe my Way of Eating
(WOE), I’m frequently asked, “Is Very Low Carb like the South Beach Diet?”
Definitely not! Here’s a point-by-point comparison, from my (biased)
perspective as a strong advocate of the Very Low Carb approach. For reference, I’ve
used this description of the South Beach Diet from
Wikipedia.
SBD: “high in fiber,” “low glycemic carbs,” “unsaturated fats
(mostly monounsaturated),” “lean protein.”
VLC: Very low in
fiber. All fiber is carbohydrate. You
cannot eat “high fiber” and Very
Low Carb because, to get any fiber,
you have to eat carbs, and to get high fiber you would have to eat too many carbs. The only fiber you eat
in Very Low Carb is the incidental
content in some of the low carb vegetables at some meals (supper, mostly), and
the occasional snack (e.g. celery with anchovy paste). Typically, I eat maybe
5g of fiber a day.
SBD & VLC: Low glycemic carbs. Generally, both diets
advocate “low glycemic carbs.” This would include many above ground vegetables
and leafy greens. VLC would exclude
corn, beets, peas and carrots (too sugary) and squash. My favorites are
broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, green beans and salad greens. More caveats
below.
SBD: Unsaturated fats (mostly monounsaturated): This
suggests the “fruit” oils, avocado and olive oil (mostly monounsaturated), but the SBD would necessarily include all
processed and refined seed oils:
corn, sunflower, Canola, soy bean, etc, all
polyunsaturated, all highly processed,
and all bad.
It would explicitly exclude saturated fat: butter, ghee, coconut oil,
tallow, lard, the latter two found in animal meats.
VLC: Includes monounsaturated
fats (avocado and olive oil) and saturated fats as found in meats and
dairy and used in cooking. No margarine. It is a refined seed oil and may
contain trans fats (partially
hydrogenated oils). We love to cook with bacon fat. My wife makes pie crusts
with lard (not Crisco). I brown meats in ghee.
SBD: “lean protein.” Wikipedia doesn’t even mention the
words “red meat” in the SBD piece! Or dairy either.
VLC: For us, the fattier the meat, the better, including
ground meats, chicken with the skin on, and pork roast. Salmon and sardines
too, and full-fat yogurt (if you can find it!), heavy cream, and full-fat cream
cheese. All saturated fat! It will raise
your HDL-C. My last HDL-C was 92mg/dl, my TC 189, my LDL-C 83 and my trigs 56.
SBD: “3 steps,” “emphasis on carbs,” “exercise included”, “3
meals + 2 snacks a day,” a “high-fat” diet.
VLC: The best way to do Very Low Carb is to go all in, “cold
turkey.” In 2002, I started on 20g of carbs a day. My motivation, and the
reason my doctor suggested it, was to
lose weight. But within the first week I had a few hypos and, by telephone my
doctor stopped one med and cut the other two in half TWICE. I later stopped one
of those and today just take Metformin. And by the way, over a period of years,
I lost 170 pounds.
SBD: “with emphasis on carbs.” Wikipedia says Phase 1
includes “many carbs,” and Phase 2 includes “complex carbs” such as “brown
rice” and “100% whole grain bread.” I can only imagine what Phase 3 allows you
to eat!
VLC: Very Low Carb also emphasizes carbs, but just the
opposite: you eat as few carbs as you can, but when you do you eat carbs choose
‘low-carb’ carbs and definitely no rice or bread (or pasta or potatoes, etc.).
SBD: “choose the right fats and the right carbs,” “a
‘high-fat’ diet, not a
‘low-carb’ diet”
VLC: If you are a type 2 diabetic, you are insulin
resistant and therefore carbohydrate intolerant. You need to make a permanent change.
Very Low Carb is not a temporary diet
where you return to eating the foods you ate before. You’re not doing this to lose weight – although
if you follow it strictly, you will. You’re doing it to self-treat (through diet) your type 2 diabetes and avoid the dreaded complications.
When you eat VLC, your body will burn body
fat, so it won’t be sending you hunger
signals, and you will be able to eat
fewer meals (1 or 2 a day), with NO snacks – and you won’t have to exercise if you don’t want
to.
VLC &
SBD: Both are
“high-fat,” but saturated fats
taste much better than those refined “vegetable” oils.
This is a fantastic analysis comparing the two diet. I had good luck with Atkins, so I never bothered with the SBD. Of course, I got lazy and fell off the Atkins diet. You’ve provided me a new inspiration to get my priorities back in order. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Greg. I've fallen off a few times too, but when I put my mind to it, I find it pretty easy to stay on point 'cause of the lack of hunger. The motivation that works best for me is weight loss, not blood sugar control, but it works equally well for both.
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