The South Beach Diet is a well-known dietary strategy which takes the core elements of Atkins--high protein consumption and carb restriction--and tweaks them to make the system more accessible. It does this by allowing you to consume certain beneficial carbs while discouraging consumption of unhealthy fats. The South Beach Diet also has beneficial effects on metabolism. If you, or someone you know, is considering the South Beach Diet, what follows are the metabolic enhancements one can expect from adherence to this popular plan.
Metabolism Booster 1--Multiple Smaller Meals
The first way that the South Beach Diet positively affects your metabolism is through its recommendation of six smaller meals spaced evenly throughout the day. Smaller, frequent feedings have been shown to be one of the best ways to keep your metabolism running in high gear throughout the day. The constant food intake will force your body to become adapt at rapidly digesting ingested foods, keeping your metabolism burning bright and steady.
Metabolism Booster 2--Allowance of Carbs
Consuming carbs increases insulin production, which in turn maintains regular production of leptin. Leptin is a chemical which tells your brain whether it is "safe" to begin using fat for fuel. When leptin levels are low, as seen with a strict low-carb diet, the brain never receives that signal and eventually slows metabolic rate in response. The inclusion of carbs on the South Beach Diet means that leptin levels never drop, keeping your metabolism constant throughout the course of your dieting.
Metabolism Booster 3--Carbs and Energy
Furthermore, the allowed carbs in the South Beach Diet facilitates a high metabolism by allowing you to train harder than you would be able without. If you have ever been on a prolonged low-carb diet, you should be familiar with the resulting lethargy that appears at random. As a consequence of that, performance in the gym or on the track suffers, impairing the metabolic gains that you would ordinarily see from your workouts. The South Beach Diet avoids this by keeping you loaded with healthy carbs.
Metabolism Booster 4--Increased Calories
Consuming six healthy meals a day will normally mean you will be increasing your overall caloric intake, yet those on the South Beach Diet still lose weight rapidly. This occurs because metabolism is not a set figure, but a process which is constantly fluctuating in response to environmental changes. When you increase food intake and keep it consistently higher, metabolism naturally responds by increasing, as well. This is why South Beach Dieters often find themselves eating more but still dropping fat.
Metabolic Booster 5--Healthy Fat Intake
Increase in intake of healthy fats, especially the heart-healthy omega-3 fats found in seafood (which the South Beach Diet recommends heavily), is yet another way in which the diet boosts metabolism. Aside from boosting your metabolism, consumption of omega-3 fats can also decrease levels of abdominal fat, improvements in mood and increased levels of satiety.
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