If you want to better understand why I don't advocate one-size-fits-all diets like the South Beach Plan, you'll want to read this awesome article in USA Today (free text link below) about the confusing results of a study on low-fat diets.
According to a trio of studies based on data taken from the Women's Health Initiative, low-fat diets don't significantly cut down a woman's risk of various cancers. But these results were deceptive at best, and for the wrong reasons. Why?
Patients were separated into two groups: One set ate their typical diet while the rest were told to cut their total fat intake by 20 percent and eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. At the end of the study, few women in the latter low-fat/fruit/veggie group made any healthy progress, not surprisingly, because they couldn't stick to a diet regimen in the first place.
One of the best things you can do for your health is to forget the designer diets and foods and retool your daily diet based on the foods your body was built to eat for its unique nutritional type. If you're looking to make an impact on your health, you may also want to consider my professional online nutritional type test.
USA Today February 28, 2006
Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 295, No. 6, February 8, 2006: 655-666