South Beach Diet Check

Q: I have high triglycerides as well as high cholesterol. I carry weight around my waist, which is actually the only place I have excess fat. Do you recommend the South Beach Diet? 

A: The combination of exercise, weight loss, and a heart-healthy diet is an essential first step to reducing your triglyceride and cholesterol levels and keeping them down. It is also important to limit your calories. To lose weight, most women should consume 1,200–1,500 calories daily, and men should consume 1,800–2,000 calories.

There is no “magic” in the South Beach Diet, but its dietary principles are consistent with those recommended by the American Heart Association—a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, two servings of fatty fish such as tuna or salmon per week, an emphasis on complex carbohydrates and whole grains, and limits on saturated fats and trans fats. 

Ease into a healthy lifestyle. For example, try to walk briskly for 10 minutes three times a day as a start toward the recommended 30–60 minutes of physical activity a day.
If you don’t eat breakfast, start. Studies have shown that people who eat breakfast have an easier time losing weight and maintaining a healthy body weight.
 
If diet and exercise isn’t enough, your doctor may prescribe a statin drug.

Learn more about popular diets and your heart.

Jennifer H. Mieres, M.D., is director of nuclear cardiology at New York University. She’s also co-author of Heart Smart for Black Women and Latinas (St. Martin’s Press, 2008).