1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Okay, I won't do that many wounds, but you'll get 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:11,760 Speaker 1: a sense of one certainly about what my boxing because 3 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: I'm not famous boxing. For the record, this is not 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: a famous boxer still thinks I'm gonna be champion. True, 5 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: we're coming the champ anyway. We we're coming from Mike Tyson. 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: It's a few more years. We're coming from the man 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: I'm standing with in a makeshift South Florida outdoor jim 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: with his trainer, surrounded by curious kids. Is Arthur Agatston. 9 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: You may not know his name, but you definitely know 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: his diet, which was everywhere in the early two thousand's 11 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: Real weight loss for real people. Go to South Beach 12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: diet dot com today. You'll rev up your metabolism for 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: even faster weight loss by the doctor behind the rebel 14 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,280 Speaker 1: snary South Beach die. I'm a real person. I lost 15 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: nine pounds in Arthur is still hard at work on 16 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: his beach body. We're on the swanky island off the 17 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: coast of Miami, where Arthur lives with his wife Sarah. 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: His regular boxing lesson is about to kick off. We're 19 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: standing outside on a basketball court. Every so often a 20 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: ship comes by, blasting it's horn. Arthur's trainer is a 21 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: former professional boxer named Juan Arroyo. They start off with 22 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: some shadow boxing, then one takes out his boxing mites 23 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: for Arthur to hit jack shoulder how wide like this 24 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: when you gotta stand right to polo, wait in the 25 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: middle to the chair so I can see what the 26 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: diet does. Arthur is nimble on his feet. As one 27 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: swings admit at him, he quickly ducks. He looks young 28 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 1: and agile. Arthur credits the South Beach diet with at 29 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: least some of his endurance. It is also the source 30 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: of some pretty immense wealth. The island where he lives, 31 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 1: Fisher Island, is accessible from Miami only by fairy or 32 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: private yacht. We got here today on the ferry in 33 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: a tesla. Arthur's neighbors include the model Carolina Kurkova, former 34 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 1: New York Knicks player David Lee, and tennis star Carolyn 35 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: was Niacki. Oprah owned a condo here at one point. 36 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: The police looks like a resort. People even travel around 37 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: the island on golf carts. But I'm not here to 38 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: rub elbows with the rich and famous or get feedback 39 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: on my right hook. In early two thousand's, the South 40 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: Beach Diet became a sensation. I was just a kid 41 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: at the time, but I know that my mom did 42 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: the diet for a little bit. Lots of people did. 43 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: It was everywhere, and I wanted to understand why. After all, 44 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: it's basically a low carb diet, which means eating lots 45 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: of protein and vegetables and not eating much bread, pasta 46 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: and dessert. And as we learned in the last episode, 47 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 1: low carb diets are nothing new. They've actually been around 48 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: for many, many years. And yet the South Beach Diet 49 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: book but Key a major bestseller and spawned a franchise 50 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: that has sold more than twenty three million books. It's 51 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: hey day. Everyone from former President Bill Clinton to actress 52 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: Nicole Kidman were reportedly fans. And the South Beach Diet 53 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: wasn't just insanely popular. It was insanely popular during a 54 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: time that I like to think of as the Golden 55 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: Age of the diet. From the nineties to the two thousand's, 56 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: the sheer number of diets was incredible. Wheat Watchers was 57 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: also exploding at the time. When you're on a diet hungry, 58 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: is there to sabotage you every step of the way. 59 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,599 Speaker 1: The Biggest Loser was about to hit our TV screen 60 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: just a moment, one player will become this year's biggest Loser. 61 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: And when the grand ride a two hifty dollars from 62 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: new Visco one. There were even diet cookies you could 63 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: eat for breakfast. You want to lose up to fifteen 64 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: pounds of months get Smart for Life cookies. Doctors developed 65 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: Smart for Life cookies with extracts from natural ingredients like fruits, 66 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: vegetable for even the fashion of this time period seem 67 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: to require being impossibly skinny, remember low rise pants and 68 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: crop tops. In this episode, we're going to dissect the 69 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: South Beach diet. It's the prototypical diet in many ways. 70 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: It was created by a doctor. It designated certain foods 71 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: as good and others as bad, and it became a huge, 72 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:49,360 Speaker 1: huge business. How does the diet become so popular that 73 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: decades later there are people who still have a South 74 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: Beach Diet cookbook hanging around their kitchen cupboard. How does 75 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: a particular diet go viral preaching the same kinds of 76 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: things diets have been preaching for many years. I'm going 77 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: to break it down and reveal the formula for viral 78 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: diet success. Like celebrity endorsements, I'm Bloomberg News health reporter 79 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: Emma Court and from the Prognosis podcast, this is Losing It. 80 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: The story of the South Beach Diet starts with Arthur 81 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: Agatston and a little bit of a belly, specifically his belly. 82 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: For most of his life, Arthur was thin and athletic, 83 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: so thin that sometimes he would even eat junk food 84 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: to try to put on a few pounds. But one 85 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: day he realized that he had gained some weight, and 86 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: not on purpose. In the mid nineties, Arthur was putting 87 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: in long days as a cardiologist at a Miami hospital 88 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: and I was sitting around with out cardiology fellows posting 89 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: about some athletic exploittant. The fellow starts laughing at me. 90 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: Arthur asks this guy, what's up? Said, look at your belly. 91 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: Arthur looks down only to find I really I had one. 92 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: So Arthur goes on a diet. But the diet wasn't 93 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: just the start of a weight loss journey for Arthur. 94 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: It was the start of a whole new chapter in 95 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: his career. I met Arthur on a bright December Day 96 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: in his medical practices office in Miami Beach. In person, 97 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: Arthur was really more like your classic doctor than a 98 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: diet guru. There were a couple of models of the 99 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,240 Speaker 1: human heart in his office and a white coat hung 100 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: on the back of his chair. Arthur himself comes off 101 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: as kind and straightforward. He's also excited bowl prone to 102 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: tangents even while in the middle of telling a completely 103 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: different story. But Arthur is also a diet guru. Back 104 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: when he invented the South Beach Diet, a different kind 105 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: of regimen was all the rage. You probably remember how 106 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: supermarkets suddenly started stalking low fat everything, low fat cottage, cheese, 107 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: fat free yogurt, even low fat cookies. This became popular 108 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: in the eighties as a way of preventing heart disease 109 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: and losing weight. At the time, even the American Heart 110 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: Association recommended a low fat diet, and Arthur was into 111 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: heart health. He was a heart doctor, after all, not 112 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: just any heart doctor, a pioneering one. A test named 113 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: after him, the Agatstan score, is still used to pick 114 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: up people's risk of things like hard attacks. So as 115 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,359 Speaker 1: Arthur is trying to figure out how to lose weight, himself. 116 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: He's also thinking about how nutrition impacts things like the 117 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: risk of heart disease, and he's pretty sure that low 118 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: fat diets aren't actually the answer. Low fat diets just 119 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,239 Speaker 1: didn't work in clinical practice. It didn't lower your cholesterol, 120 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: and it didn't prevent diabetes or anything. Arthur thought low 121 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,199 Speaker 1: fat diets were steering people in the wrong direction, people 122 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: like him. During late afternoons at work, he would sometimes 123 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: start feeling dizzy and shaky, so I would run down 124 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: to the doctor's lounge, have a low fat blueberry muffin 125 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: which was sugar and junk, and a cup of coffee 126 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: brought my blood sugar back up. Instead of low fat, 127 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: low carb diets were now becoming popular, led by another cardiologist, 128 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:02,600 Speaker 1: Robert Atkins of Atkins Diet Face. So Arthur starts on 129 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,719 Speaker 1: a low carb diet, and as soon as he does this, 130 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: he says that the pounds start melting away. He loses 131 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: about twelve pounds, the belly is gone, Arthur is back 132 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: to feeling like his usual fit self. He also suspects 133 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: that he is onto something. He thinks this diet would 134 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 1: be good for his patients too, so he meets up 135 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: with his colleague, a dietitian named Marie Almond. Together they 136 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: come up with what would eventually become the South Beach Diet, 137 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: a three phase plan for weight loss, but at the 138 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: time it had a different name, The Modified Carbohydrate Diet. 139 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: We eat healthy and did the best shape of your life. 140 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: Introducing the brand new Modified Carbohydrate Diet the Effective Weight, 141 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 1: Lose weight and learn the way to maintain a healthy 142 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: weight without hunger or deprivation. Catchy right. Arthur and Marie's 143 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,959 Speaker 1: new diet was similar to Atkins, but had more of 144 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: an emphasis on healthy fats. Here's how it works. Phase 145 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: one is intense. That's when you have the most restrictions 146 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: on what you can eat. You're eating protein like fish 147 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:28,079 Speaker 1: and meat and lots of vegetables. You can have milk 148 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: and cheese so long as they're low fat or non fat, 149 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: but you can't have bread, potatoes, pasta, alcohol, desserts. You 150 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: can't even eat fruit. In phase one, the point is 151 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: to get rid of cravings for foods that the diet 152 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: says are bad for you, and during this part of 153 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: the diet the pounds are supposed to drop fast. In 154 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: Phase two, things relax a little. You can start adding back, 155 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: whole grain breads, high fiber cereals, sweet potatoes, some kinds 156 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: of fruit, wine, and even chocolate. Sparingly, that is so 157 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: we really introduced the concepts of the good fats and 158 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: good carbs. You didn't have to be high carb or 159 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: low carb, or high fat or low fat. It was 160 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: choosing the healthy ones. South Beach became known as a 161 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: low carb diet. Anyway, in phase two, you're not restricting 162 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: what you eat as much, so the weight loss happens slower, 163 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: and you just stay in this phase of the diet 164 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 1: for however long it takes to hit your goal weight. 165 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: Another sort of novel idea of the diet emphasizes is 166 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: snacking and strategic weights. Because your blood sugars did have 167 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: swings and before your blood sugar dropped, if you had 168 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: a snack and prevented that dropped, it would prevent you 169 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: from being very hungry and in general, blood shook er 170 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: is kind of a theme of the South Beach diet. 171 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: It tells dieters to eat foods with a low glycemic index, 172 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: especially in phase one. The idea is that these foods 173 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: should keep you full for longer and less likely to crave, 174 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 1: say mint, chocolate chip ice cream. Once you've lost weight, 175 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: you move into phase three. The diet basically says you've 176 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,360 Speaker 1: learned how to eat, and you can relax a bit. 177 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: There's no list of foods to eat and foods to 178 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: avoid anymore like you can eat chocolate sponge cake now. 179 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: The book actually says that beyond the chocolate sponge cake, 180 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: the diet is honestly a little vague about exactly how 181 00:13:43,840 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 1: this phase should look. It does say that people can 182 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: overdo it and regain weight at this point. If that's 183 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: what happens, then the book tells you to start back 184 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,439 Speaker 1: at phase one again. In this way, the South Beach 185 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: Diet spread a classic diet myth. The myth is this, 186 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: you diet for a little while, then get back to 187 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: your normal life now with a new slimmer body. Except 188 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: that's not really true. You have to keep up these 189 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: new habits if you want to keep the weight off. 190 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: If you don't, you wind up in a never ending 191 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: cycle of losing and gaining weight, which is not good 192 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: for your health. The diet I just outlined, by the way, 193 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: was the original South Beach Diet. There's also a newer version. 194 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: Before it was a book, The South Beach diet was 195 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: just a pamphlet, Arthur says. Even calling it a pamphlet 196 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,160 Speaker 1: might be over selling it. It was three or four 197 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: sheets of Xerox paper stapled together. Arthur and Marie offered 198 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: the pamphlets to patients at their hospital who were in 199 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: hardiac rehab, which is where people who have had heart 200 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: attacks and other heart problems come to get healthy again. 201 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: Arthur says he sometimes meets people who still have their 202 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: original staple together copies of the diet. Arthur's patients start 203 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: losing weight. Soon, a local TV station wants to do 204 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,640 Speaker 1: a segment on the diet. Arthur is into it. He 205 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: also starts realizing that his diet has commercial potential. He 206 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: and his wife end up buying the rights from the 207 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: hospital where he works. It's called Mount Sinai Medical Center. 208 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: Arthur also realized that his diet probably needs a new name. 209 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: Modified Carbohydrate diet just didn't quite roll off the tongue. 210 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: He toyed with just calling it the Agatstan diet, in 211 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: the model of other doctors turned diet gurus before him, 212 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 1: like Robert Atkins. But Arthur wasn't crazy about this idea. 213 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: Arthur is an academic at heart, he didn't want to 214 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: become Mr. Diet Doctor. Arthur says, it's his wife, Sarah 215 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: who ultimately comes up with the name. They're at dinner 216 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: one night, eating al fresco at a Mediterranean spot underneath 217 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: a big tree in South Beach, a famous Miami neighborhood 218 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: known for its beaches, nightlife, and gorgeous people. Serry thinks 219 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: about it and she realizes it's the South Beach Diet. 220 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: I love South Beach when my wife said it, because 221 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: he we were on South Beach and South Beach was 222 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: becoming hot, and what I concluded was unless you went 223 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: to the public and marketing, you weren't going to be successful. 224 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: The imagery that South Beach conveyed was perfect. It made 225 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: you think of beautiful women in teeny bikinis and tan, 226 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: muscular men on a glamorous white sand beach, and South 227 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: Beach the place was itself having kind of a moment. 228 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: Miami had already been a popular place to visit with 229 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 1: its son and sand, but South Beach started becoming really 230 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: well known in the eighties thanks to new investments in 231 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: hotels and restaurants. There was also a new hit show 232 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: called Miami vice. By the time the South Beach Diet 233 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: hit the scene, South Beach had become the sort of 234 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 1: place rich and beautiful people like to hang out. The 235 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: newly named diet is featured on local TV in South Florida, 236 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: which ends up being kind of a turning point for 237 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: Arthur and the South Beach Diet. Arthur in the Diet 238 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: become pretty well known locally. At least then everybody said, 239 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: where you have to write a book, And at that 240 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 1: point no, no, so Arthur did. The book is called 241 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: The South Beach Diet. The Delicious Doctor Designed foolproof plan 242 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: for fast and healthy weight loss. The Diet hit bookstores 243 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: in April two three and spent almost nine months at 244 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,919 Speaker 1: number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Eventually, 245 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: it would be translated into more than thirty languages, spawn 246 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: a whole franchise of South Beach guides and cookbooks, and 247 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: sell more than twenty three million books under the South 248 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:54,119 Speaker 1: Beach Diet brand. It was a phenomenon. It's a groundbreaking 249 00:18:54,119 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: phenomenon with a global following. The South Beach Diet and 250 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: the South Beach did change the way Americans dieted, but 251 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: not forever. Millions of people did the diet back then. 252 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: One of them was Jeanette fold Up. She's a freelance 253 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: web developer who lives in Indianapolis. At the time she 254 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,360 Speaker 1: tried out the diet, she was twenty four and had 255 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,679 Speaker 1: been struggling with her weight since middle school. Jeanette was 256 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: skeptical of fad diets, but she had been trying to 257 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 1: lose weight on her own for a while and it 258 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: hadn't been going so well. She needed a plan, and 259 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: the South Beach Diet didn't seem like that much of 260 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: a fad diet. For one thing, it had been invented 261 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: by a cardiologist. I chose the South Beach Diet because 262 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 1: my brother had lost about sixty pounds on it, and 263 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: he wasn't doing anything crazy. You eat lean meats like 264 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,679 Speaker 1: turkey and chicken, You eat whole grains stead of like 265 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: white bread, eat vegetables and foods, and that all seems 266 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 1: reasonable to me. Jeanette kept a weight loss blog. After all, 267 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: this wasn't just the golden age of the diet. This 268 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: was also the heyday of internet blogging. Jeanette's blog was 269 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: called Pasta Queen. The South Beach Diet cracks down on 270 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: pasta by the way, I combed through its archives to 271 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: see what she had written about the South Beach Diet 272 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: at the time. I could see how some of the 273 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: facets of the diet we've been talking about drew her 274 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,159 Speaker 1: to it and kept her on it, like the first 275 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: phase where Jeanette lost sixteen pounds in two weeks. Here's 276 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 1: Jeanette reading from one of her early posts. You learn 277 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: some basic rules about what types of food to eat 278 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: and about how much, and then they set your free. 279 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: You can do what you want with the permitted foods, 280 00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: allowing for lots of variety. Plus you're supposed to eat 281 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: until you're full. Wow, a diet that didn't expect you 282 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,399 Speaker 1: to starve. All of those traits combined to make diet 283 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: that I think I can actually follow for a long 284 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: period of time, hopefully the rest of my life. Basically, 285 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: I've chosen the South Beach Diet because one, you start 286 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: losing weight immediately to the regiment isn't difficult to learn. 287 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 1: You just learn the basic principles, what you eat is 288 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: flexible within the rules, and three, I should never feel 289 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:24,080 Speaker 1: hungry or deprived. I hope it works. Ah. Yes, a 290 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: diet that's flexible as long as you follow all of 291 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:34,480 Speaker 1: the rules. We've heard this from dieters before, like Damie Cologne. 292 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: In episode one. Janette also says that in retrospect, the 293 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: diet sort of taught her what healthy eating was supposed 294 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: to look like. She had some vague ideas, but the 295 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: diet really pinned those details down. In the past, I've 296 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: kind of tried to eat healthy, but because I didn't 297 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: know specifically, like what should I be eating, you know, 298 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:58,120 Speaker 1: that was a little hard. I did, like the South 299 00:21:58,119 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: Beach Diet did have like a list of food where 300 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: it was okay, this is okay in phase one, this 301 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: is okay, Phase two, this is okay, and phase three, 302 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,360 Speaker 1: so I can kind of referred to that just be like, okay, 303 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:11,719 Speaker 1: you know our bananas on the list. For the record, 304 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 1: bananas are not on the list in phase one, but 305 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: you can have them specifically medium sized bananas in phase two. 306 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: In two years, Jeanette ends up losing nearly two hundred pounds. 307 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: Let me just say that again, two hundred pounds. She 308 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: lost half of her body weight, and she actually ends 309 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: up writing a memoir about all this. Here's Jeanette on 310 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: the Today Show and Jeanette Foldy is with us this morning, Janette, 311 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: welcome and congratulations. I'm gonna start off with a question 312 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 1: I don't normally start off with guests. How much do 313 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 1: you weigh now? Pounds? Jeanette brings her old pants to 314 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: the show and holds them up before the audience. The 315 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: chiron reads skinny story Weight Loss two. She's sitting on 316 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: a stool in the interview, and she told me that 317 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: she thinks they sat her there on purpose, so her 318 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: whole body was visible in the shot. We'll come back 319 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: to her and what she calls after the after photo 320 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: in a bit. Remember our original question, why did the 321 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 1: South Beach Diet take off? Was it the name or 322 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,760 Speaker 1: that it was invented by a doctor? Was it that 323 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 1: it seemed easy with only two weeks of really restrictive dieting. 324 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: I wanted to get to the bottom of this question, 325 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: so I talked to Carol Angstad, who designed the cover 326 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,760 Speaker 1: of the original South Beach Diet book. The name obviously 327 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 1: was a big part of what sent The South Beach 328 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,919 Speaker 1: Diet to the top of the best seller list, but 329 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: the way I see it, Carol's book design is another 330 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: key factor. It's publisher, a company called Roedale was banking 331 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: on the book taking off. Rodale wanted it to look 332 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: like a big book, a publishing term for covers that 333 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,960 Speaker 1: are eye catching and look like best sellers. In practice, 334 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: that usually means having the title in huge letters, taking 335 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:29,080 Speaker 1: center stage. So Carol pitched exactly that. The background was 336 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,600 Speaker 1: a bright turquoise color with a palm tree peeking out 337 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:37,439 Speaker 1: on one corner. It was actually a stock photo. The 338 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: words the South Beach Diet are stacked in front of 339 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: the beach shot, taking up most of the page, and 340 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: then Arthur's name is on the bottom. It reads Arthur 341 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 1: Agatston M d It's really, you know, when you look 342 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 1: at it, very basic and simple. It's just, you know, 343 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 1: the blue and the green kind of flowing together, are 344 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: in just a hint of the palm frond. This is 345 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:07,200 Speaker 1: the design the publisher Rodale goes with. They also add 346 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:12,360 Speaker 1: onto the cover the words lose belly fat first. This 347 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: is what they call a hook of the diet, a 348 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: thing that sets it apart and draws people in. They 349 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: also end up printing the cover on shiny foil paper, 350 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:27,400 Speaker 1: which is more often used for things like romance novels. 351 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: Carol says that made the book feel sexy, which was 352 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,719 Speaker 1: exactly what they were going for. It didn't even really 353 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: look like a diet book or even something health related. 354 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,159 Speaker 1: Here's Tammy Booth Corwin, who became the editor in chief 355 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,480 Speaker 1: and president of Rodale Books. And I remember the day 356 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: we were in my office now in Pennsylvania, myself and 357 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,240 Speaker 1: our publisher Amy and all really all a big game. 358 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: Our deputy editor, Mary South, and we all stood around 359 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,120 Speaker 1: and our designer put on the floor of my office 360 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: probably forty covers, and then one by one we took 361 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,120 Speaker 1: out the ones that just weren't hitting us in some 362 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: special way, and and then it came down to the 363 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: cover that we that we published with. And one of 364 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,439 Speaker 1: the things we loved about it was it looked like 365 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,239 Speaker 1: a novel. It looked like something you'd sit down and 366 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: read on the beach. Diet publishers like Rodale knew that 367 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: standing out was the key to a successful diet book. 368 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 1: They were already tons of diets out there. A book 369 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: needed to sound new and fresh to get attention and 370 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 1: especially to sell. The other important piece was the way 371 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:47,000 Speaker 1: the diet was structured. The three phases gave people a 372 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:51,719 Speaker 1: sense of momentum, especially with a strict initial phase that 373 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:57,080 Speaker 1: was likely to shed pounds fast. The fact that South 374 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: Beach had three parts to it was a classic move 375 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,359 Speaker 1: from the diet playbook. The Acting Diet, for example, has 376 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 1: four phases. Phases help dieters feel like they're progressing and 377 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: moving forward even during periods of time when weight loss 378 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: slows or even stops, and phases also make dieters feel 379 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: like they'll eventually be done with the diet. In other words, 380 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: they can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 381 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: With the South Beach Diet, that light is phase three. 382 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,439 Speaker 1: We've talked a lot so far about what made the 383 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: South Beach Diet successful, but we need to also talk 384 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: about what the diet overpromised and where it fell short. 385 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,360 Speaker 1: These are themes we've looked at earlier in the series. 386 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:48,640 Speaker 1: How with dieting, there's a thin line between information and misinformation. 387 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: When scientists evaluated various nutrition facts in Arthur's book in 388 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,160 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, they found that only a third 389 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: was clearly backed up by published scientific research. For example, 390 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,199 Speaker 1: one big draw of the South Beach diet was that 391 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: people lose eight to thirteen pounds in their first two weeks, 392 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,199 Speaker 1: but the authors of this paper weren't able to find 393 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: any research backing that up. I spoke with one of 394 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:23,439 Speaker 1: the studies authors, David cats. He points out that the 395 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: South Beach Diet does steer people away from processed foods 396 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:32,479 Speaker 1: and added sugars, which is good, but it also tells 397 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,760 Speaker 1: people to make changes that aren't sustainable, like eliminating certain 398 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: foods before bringing them back in later phases. The South 399 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: Beach Diet was an attempt to improve on Atkins and 400 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: say not all carbs are created equal, not all fat 401 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: is created equal. The emphasis on how this was a 402 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:57,840 Speaker 1: uniquely effective way to lose weight was distortion. What David 403 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: is talking about here is something many weight loss programs 404 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: are guilty of, the idea that this diet works way 405 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: better than all the other diets out there. David doesn't 406 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: approve of health professionals and scientists, in particular giving the 407 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: public misleading information. After all, they're supposed to be the 408 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 1: people we can trust. Another questionable fact is the very 409 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:27,959 Speaker 1: one promoted on the book's cover, lose belly fat first, 410 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: As if we can't determine where on our body pounds 411 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: will disappear from people lose weight in all kinds of ways. Arthur, 412 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 1: by the way, stands by the book, so he acknowledges 413 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,840 Speaker 1: they got some things wrong, and the science has evolved 414 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: in areas. And when I bring up the criticisms, he 415 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:54,880 Speaker 1: doesn't get defensive or anything. Did they about snacking? But 416 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: he says, basically he stands by the diet, that they've 417 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: corrected the record where they were wrong. Now the principles 418 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: everybody should be eating that way, as far as the 419 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: basic principles of avoiding sugars, avoiding bad cards. For all 420 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: Arthur's confidence, I still have questions overstating aspects of a 421 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: diet or going beyond the scientific evidence at the time. 422 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: Those things affect people. And yet none of this kept 423 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: the diet from becoming a sensation. It didn't matter whether 424 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: it did exactly what it said it would, because word 425 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: about the diet spread faster than the criticisms, and the 426 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:42,959 Speaker 1: hype was compelling diet. The book became a bestseller eight 427 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: years ago and caused a revolution in the dieting world, 428 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: from cutting cards to swearing off sweets, The South Beach 429 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: Diet changed the way many Americans slim down, something that 430 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,240 Speaker 1: seems to have worked to the South Beach diets advantage 431 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: was the reach of its publisher. Rodale was an important 432 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: player in the health and fitness world. It owned nine magazines, 433 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: including Men's Health, Prevention and Runners World, reaching about seven 434 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: million readers altogether. When The South Beach Diet was published, 435 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: Prevention ran an eleven page spread. There were pieces in 436 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: Runners World and Men's Health. Diet also made the cover 437 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: of another well read magazine called Women's World, which wasn't 438 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: owned by Rodale. Rodale also sent out five million direct 439 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: mailers to get the word out. In other words, Rodale 440 00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: had some serious resources and it used them to tell 441 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: people about the South Beach Diet. And there was another 442 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:46,840 Speaker 1: new way to reach people, the Internet. This is the 443 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: two thousand's, the era of Internet businesses, including an early Amazon, Yahoo, 444 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: and eBay. People are starting to get smarter phones and 445 00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: even watch cat videos online, and the Rodale team put 446 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 1: the butting Internet to work. They partnered with a company 447 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: now called Everyday Health to offer subscription diet content and 448 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: message boards for dieters. Part of that was community, which 449 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: we could not offer in the book. For example, that 450 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 1: was Tammy again from Rodale, and it really complimented the book. 451 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: All of the branding they did drove book sales. Book 452 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: sales drove to the digital product with South Beach Diet 453 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: dot com. It's now easier than ever to lose weight 454 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:36,280 Speaker 1: while eating the foods you love. I do. I get 455 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: to eat the sweets now with South Beach. And there 456 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,920 Speaker 1: was another thing that really helped push the South Beach 457 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: Diet to the masses, celebrity endorsements. Former President Bill Clinton 458 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: happened to have a new book coming out around the 459 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: same time, so he went on a book tour and 460 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: he looked great, and people were asking him, you look great, 461 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: and he said, I think it was in New York Magazine. 462 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 1: He said, I'm almost stopped me to diet, and from 463 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:12,800 Speaker 1: there sales skyrocketed. Jessica Simpson, who famously wore short shorts 464 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,880 Speaker 1: in the two thou five Dukes of Hazard movie, was 465 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: also said to have used the diet to fit into 466 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: her Daisy dukes. The actress Bette Midler was another South 467 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 1: Speech diet fan. Celebrities are especially effective diet ambassadors because 468 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:32,160 Speaker 1: people already want to look like them. As the diet 469 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: was taking off, Tammy and other Rodelle employees would gather 470 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: around their publisher's office every week and wait to hear 471 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,320 Speaker 1: how well the book had sold. Back then, you had 472 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: to wait for the numbers to come in. You couldn't 473 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: just check them online. Then the publisher, Amy Rhodes, would 474 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 1: decide whether they needed to print more copies. And literally, 475 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: in the first year we went back to press twenty 476 00:33:58,200 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: three times. I think it was. It would be so exciting. 477 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: Amy would say, I'm pushing the button for another hundred 478 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:08,800 Speaker 1: thousand copies, And the first time that happened, we we thought, 479 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: you know, this isn't another stratosphere. Now. This brings me 480 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,760 Speaker 1: to the final and critical piece of all this timing 481 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 1: and context. Remember before the Southweach diet launched, everyone was 482 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: talking about a different dietary villain fat. This was the 483 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: era of fat free cookies and frozen yogurt. After all, 484 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: the cultural tide started to shift with the Atkins diet, 485 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:40,640 Speaker 1: which made carbs into a dirty word. Instead, you walked 486 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,960 Speaker 1: in the studio and a collective gas over, how fantastic 487 00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:47,839 Speaker 1: you look. I know you're doing Atkins. I'm doing Atkins. 488 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: In the first six weeks, I lost twenty three pounds, 489 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: then I went to thirty pounds I lost, and then Christmas. 490 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,719 Speaker 1: That was Sharon Osborne, who was a celebrity ambassador for 491 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:03,600 Speaker 1: the diet. Atkins was extremely popular, but it was also 492 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: criticized because it told people to eat a lot of 493 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,640 Speaker 1: fatty foods. Doctor said then that it could be dangerous 494 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:18,440 Speaker 1: for people. Then Robert Atkins, the inventor of the Atkins Diet, died, 495 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:24,320 Speaker 1: He'd been injured, but it started this huge controversy about 496 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:30,960 Speaker 1: whether Robert Atkins himself was in poor health. There was 497 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: a discussion around the time of his death about, you know, 498 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,799 Speaker 1: did he have a bad heart. You know, people said 499 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,359 Speaker 1: he was OBEs. A doctor who worked with Atkins, by 500 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: the way, denied a lot of this back then and 501 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 1: said Robert atkins medical issues likely weren't because of his diet. 502 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,880 Speaker 1: It was all very sad. However, having a heart healthy 503 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: diet to replace it almost at the same time was 504 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: just a very odd, odd bit of timing that ended 505 00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: up being something that helped the book kind of take 506 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,439 Speaker 1: that place. It's customary for diet books to come out 507 00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:14,800 Speaker 1: in January, but Rodell actually put The South Beach Diet 508 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:19,440 Speaker 1: out in April, wanting to set it apart a little bit. Remember, 509 00:36:19,719 --> 00:36:22,040 Speaker 1: Bill Clinton is going on his own book tour around 510 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:25,560 Speaker 1: this time and talking about the diet, and then the 511 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: very month the South Beach Diet book comes out, Robert 512 00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:33,719 Speaker 1: Atkins dies, the timing couldn't have been predicted, but it 513 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 1: would wind up being very important. And really, this is 514 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: one of those stories of a book or a launch 515 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: where you do everything right in your mind, you do 516 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,399 Speaker 1: everything you can do, and then you send it out 517 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,479 Speaker 1: into the world and you don't know what will happen next, 518 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: and then there are all of these X factors that 519 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,200 Speaker 1: go into it, the timing, you know, in terms of 520 00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,239 Speaker 1: how people receive it, what else is happening in the marketplace, 521 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: in at specific category, in elsewhere, and so on. To 522 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,880 Speaker 1: recapt the South Beach Diet succeeded because of its branding, 523 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: it's tremendous reach, celebrity endorsements, and timing. That formula worked 524 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:18,680 Speaker 1: for this diet, and it's worked for countless other diets too. 525 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,319 Speaker 1: For the people behind the South Beach Diet, it was 526 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: a success story. It had blown past expectations, dominated the 527 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,440 Speaker 1: cultural moment, and redefined how well a diet and a 528 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,080 Speaker 1: diet book could do. But for at least one person 529 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: who actually did the diet, it was way more complicated 530 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: that person was Jeanette Folda, who we spoke with earlier. 531 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,480 Speaker 1: She lost almost two hundred pounds on the South Beach diet. 532 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:50,960 Speaker 1: This is the story of after the after photo. As 533 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 1: she puts it, Jeanette loses all that weight and keeps 534 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,319 Speaker 1: it off for about a year and a half. Then 535 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: it starts to creep being back. But that was the 536 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:06,200 Speaker 1: least of her problems. I still have that. It's been 537 00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:09,320 Speaker 1: fourteen years now. I've had a four fourteen years. Jeanette 538 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: started getting these persistent headaches, not because of the diet 539 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: or anything. They just started happening, and nothing really helped 540 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,440 Speaker 1: to relieve the pain. Dealing with health issues made it 541 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,879 Speaker 1: really hard to keep dieting, as you might imagine. So 542 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:28,840 Speaker 1: I was worrying at nine to five job, and I 543 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:30,319 Speaker 1: would just be exhausted at the end of the day 544 00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,160 Speaker 1: and I would just stopped the grocer staring at something 545 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:37,920 Speaker 1: the ice cream or you know, chocolate covered almonds or something, 546 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:39,680 Speaker 1: and I would eat as soon as I got home, 547 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 1: and that was like the best part of the day. 548 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,840 Speaker 1: It's not just Jeanette. Dieting might be manageable in the 549 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:51,719 Speaker 1: day to day when everything is going right, but then 550 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:57,200 Speaker 1: again when does everything go right. Things come up, including 551 00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: unfortunately illness for Danny Cologne, the calorie counter, who we 552 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:05,560 Speaker 1: talked to in our first episode The road Bump, was 553 00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: a family member's health crisis. This is incredibly common. For Jeanette, 554 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:14,040 Speaker 1: it was her own health troubles. I can't blame the 555 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,960 Speaker 1: headache entirely. I think part of the problem was by then, 556 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:19,279 Speaker 1: I've gotten out of my good habits and I kind 557 00:39:19,280 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: of entered this new normal where it was normal not 558 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 1: to exercise, not to eat healthy, and trying to transition 559 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,839 Speaker 1: back to that. I think it's very difficult. She thinks 560 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:33,600 Speaker 1: about losing weight again, but doesn't have the energy. It's 561 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:38,400 Speaker 1: harder to exercise, especially when comparing herself to earlier Jeanette, 562 00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:42,560 Speaker 1: who would run a half marathon. Over the course of 563 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:47,840 Speaker 1: nine years, she gains it all back, nearly two hundred pounds. 564 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,359 Speaker 1: You don't notice it first because twenty pounds a year 565 00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,239 Speaker 1: is just one or two, because it's maybe like one 566 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,799 Speaker 1: dress size per year, so I'd have to buy new 567 00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 1: clothes in the fall, but hey, it's the fall I'm 568 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 1: gonna buy, and it blows anyway that it would just 569 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:06,520 Speaker 1: be another size. It's depressing. I think it's always depressing 570 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,200 Speaker 1: when your body is doing something you don't want it 571 00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 1: to do, particularly when you're trying to do it for 572 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,200 Speaker 1: your good health. You know, I'm not trying to hurt myself, 573 00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:15,800 Speaker 1: like I want to be healthy, but for whatever reason, 574 00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:19,240 Speaker 1: my body wants me to get fat again. Jeanette's headaches 575 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,320 Speaker 1: aren't as bad anymore by the way, she's doing better. 576 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: I was impressed that Janet was so open about sharing 577 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,880 Speaker 1: her story. We see people on TV all the time 578 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,839 Speaker 1: talking about the weight they lost, but gaining weight isn't 579 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:40,000 Speaker 1: exactly celebrated. It's stigmatized. She told me the only reason 580 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 1: she feels comfortable talking about it is because she's been 581 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 1: dieting and losing weight again. Over the course of two years, 582 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:50,120 Speaker 1: she's lost about a hundred and ten pounds. I guess 583 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,320 Speaker 1: the thing that really kicks started me was the pandemic, 584 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,840 Speaker 1: where suddenly there's this killer virus out there, and I 585 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,000 Speaker 1: was like, Oh, obesity isn't gonna kill me twenty years 586 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,200 Speaker 1: from now, It's gonna kill a twenty days from now. 587 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,040 Speaker 1: I was struck by that number. Hundred and ten pounds. 588 00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:09,600 Speaker 1: That's a lot. I remember she had previously lost almost 589 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: two hundred pounds all those years ago before regaining the weight. 590 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,080 Speaker 1: As I was poking through Jeanette's old blogs, one early 591 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,719 Speaker 1: post in particular stuck out to me. Back then, at 592 00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:27,120 Speaker 1: the very start of her weight loss efforts, she learned 593 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,839 Speaker 1: that the vast majority of people who lose weight regain it, 594 00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:35,200 Speaker 1: and this is what she wrote about that stat. I 595 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: plan on being one of the five percent. He doesn't. 596 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:43,239 Speaker 1: This idea keeps diets in business. We all want to 597 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:46,560 Speaker 1: be the exception to the rule. I'm going to dig 598 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,600 Speaker 1: into exactly what the scientists say about this in our 599 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:53,960 Speaker 1: next episode. I'll be traveling to a sprawling research campus 600 00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,480 Speaker 1: in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that's home to every gizmo and 601 00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:01,160 Speaker 1: gadget that could possibly help research or steady weight loss. 602 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:03,920 Speaker 1: One of my co leagues used to say, it's like 603 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,920 Speaker 1: toys as for a kid. Uh, you know, it's toys 604 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 1: as for a scientist. We'll take a look at the 605 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:16,920 Speaker 1: conventional wisdom about dieting, that classic formula of calories in 606 00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:22,200 Speaker 1: calories out and explore how researchers know it's true, but 607 00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 1: also how they know there's more to it than that. 608 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:29,160 Speaker 1: We'll also dive into the never ending showdown between low 609 00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:33,080 Speaker 1: carb and low fat diets to see which one, if any, 610 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: is actually better. And last, but not least, we'll dive 611 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:42,960 Speaker 1: into the secrets of successful dieters like and so I 612 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:47,560 Speaker 1: bought the food staves so that I could put the 613 00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:51,600 Speaker 1: food that I had trouble controlling myself with those food staves. 614 00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:55,200 Speaker 1: Losing It is written and reported by me I'm a 615 00:42:55,320 --> 00:43:00,279 Speaker 1: Court and edited by Kristin D. Brown. Magnus Hendrickson is 616 00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:05,040 Speaker 1: our senior producer, Stacy Wong our associate producer, and Blake 617 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:09,360 Speaker 1: Maples is our audio engineer. Our theme was composed and 618 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:14,400 Speaker 1: performed by Hannis Brown thanks to Francesco Leavi and Tim Anette. 619 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,280 Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe to Prognosis if you haven't already, 620 00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:21,520 Speaker 1: and if you like our show, please leave us a 621 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:26,520 Speaker 1: review that helps others find out about it. Thanks for listening, 622 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:27,879 Speaker 1: See you next time.