March 22, 2004:
Some New South Beach Diet™ Clarifications

The South Beach Diet™ (SBD) continues to evolve as new nutritional studies and information come out. Recently, the results of new studies have shown that some of the "foods to avoid" may not be as bad for us as the original studies on glycemic index demonstrated. There are also some new, exciting studies about the role calcium plays in weight loss. The end result is that you can continue to enjoy all of the foods recommended for the SBD — as well as adding back in a few of your favorites! Here are the major changes:

Milk
Old Version:
Avoid all dairy in Phase 1, except for less than 2 tablespoons fat-free 1/2 and 1/2, nonfat milk, 1 percent milk, or soy milk allowed with coffee.

New Version:
Phase 1:
Now includes 1 percent or fat-free milk, low-fat plain soy milk (4 grams of fat or less per serving), 1 percent or fat-free buttermilk, and fat-free plain yogurt on the Phase 1 "foods to enjoy" list. Limit dairy to 2 servings a day. Note: Feel free to flavor your fat-free plain yogurt like a ricotta creme.

Phase 2:
May introduce artificially sweetened nonfat flavored yogurt, but limit this variety to 4 ounces daily. Note: Since the SBD is still low in saturated fat, high-fat whole milk products will remain on the "foods to avoid" lists for all Phases.

Tomatoes
Old Version:
Limited to one whole tomato or 10 cherry tomatoes per meal in all Phases.

New Version:
Not limited in any Phase.

Onions
Old Version:
Limited to 1/2 per day in all Phases.

New Version:
Not limited in any Phase.

Carrots
Old Version:
Avoid carrots in Phase 1 and 2; allowed in moderation in Phase 3.

New Version:
Allowed, starting in Phase 2.

Jicama:
Allowed, starting in any Phase.

Chayote:
Allowed, starting in any Phase.

Lean Pastrami:
Allowed, starting in any Phase.