Banting Mania…
Banting has become quite the word in South Africa what with Prof Tim Noakes’ new book The Real Meal Revolution. Jonno Proudfoot and David Grier have put together some tasty recipes and the Prof has given some great science facts behind this Revolution.
Once upon a long time ago in the 70s, Dr Robert Atkins started up with the Atkins Diet which was somewhat revolutionary in the day, and later in the century many of us were low-carbing and yet there were so many nay-sayers and critics of the diet. However the low carb diets proliferated and there were quite a few doctors who advocated this way of eating. The doctors Heller, Eades, Diana Schwarzbein, Atkins were all talking the same language. Still the criticism abounded. Enter The Prof. Suddenly the diet hit the mainstream and everyone was talking about it as if it was the first time they had heard of low carb dieting. I think the word Revolution had a positive effect on the masses and suddenly low carb has once again taken centre stage, along with Paleo and Primal diets.
My experience with “low carbing” goes back a long way because of my insulin resistant, carbohydrate intolerant body. I have fought weight gain for many years and the Atkins diet was my first flirtation with low carb. I managed it for 9 months some years back and lost 16 kilos. I stopped the diet because everyone thought it was crazy, and to tell the truth, I was so tired of eggs and bacon and meat meat meat. I proceeded to put on all the weight I had lost and a whole bunch more. Soul destroying.
The interesting thing was that high fat didn’t really come into it, except for the Fat Fast suggested when one hit a plateau. The doctors Eades advocated good fats. Dr Schwarzbein listed coconut oil as a bad fat and a cookbook called Curb the Carb suggested that 30% of daily calories should come from fat. So many differing opinions and so much confusion for me.
Low Carb High Fat is what seems to have made the difference in Noakes’ version of Low Carb. A ketogenic diet calls for fat percentages as high as 80%. I own a fascinating book entitled Eat Fat to Lose Fat but it has taken The Real Meal Revolution to make it OK for me to really treat fat as a necessary nutrient, and more importantly for me and my raging appetite, to use fat as an appetite suppressant. I would much rather that than take some highly suspect pharmaceutical pill that has serious side effects.
Cautiously, (I am known for trying out anything to lose weight and have lost face countless times by giving up on so many diets) I have started Banting, along with my step daughter, my brother (who is a Banting inspiration and encouraged me to try it) and my sister-in-law and a close friend. In order to make myself more accountable, I have decided to make it public and to post my meal plans and experiences. Spooky stuff, going public! This will hopefully encourage me to stay the distance, which is actually for life. This is not a diet to start and then stop, obviously! Getting my head right was the first step, and daring to go low carb again after my dismal failure in the past was the next.
Tomorrow I will share my week’s meal plan and who knows, even a recipe or two might come out of it!
