Bacon, eggs and Banting

Durban19112014High protein breakfast with Sally Ann Creed at La Bella.Picture:Marilyn Bernard

Durban19112014High protein breakfast with Sally Ann Creed at La Bella.Picture:Marilyn Bernard

Published Nov 28, 2014

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Durban - Hardly a day goes by without the word Banting cropping up. Everyone knows someone who is Banting – following the diet recently popularised by Professor Tim Noakes and his Real Meal Revolution.

Sell-out attendances at Noakes events in Durban and, more recently, packed houses for his right-hand woman, Cape Town nutritional therapist Sally-Ann Creed, fuelled by word-of mouth testimonies of weight lost and energy gained, indicate that increasing numbers of people are trying the low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) way of eating.

Critics of the diet say it is, at best, a fad and, at worst, dangerous, but supporters are not distracted.

At a breakfast event at La Bella restaurant in Durban where generous plates of egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini and bacon were served with a slice of Banting-friendly bread, Banters swopped stories of how the lifestyle was working for them and how they dealt with hitches like stubborn weight or constipation.

Creed, co-author of The Real Meal Revolution book that has sold more than 160 000 copies and has translation rights pending in many countries, demonstrated with zeal how a “healthy” high fibre, low fat breakfast didn’t live up to its name. In A Tale Of Two Breakfasts, she totted up the sugar content of cereal, fruit juice, toast and jam, an apple and sweetened coffee – a staggering 39 teaspoons.

“The problem is that, after your ‘healthy’ breakfast, you will be hungry at 11am, so you will have a ‘healthy’ muffin that contains 16 teaspoons of sugar and a ‘healthy’ orange juice that has seven teaspoons of sugar. So, before lunch-time, you could have had between 68 and 80 teaspoons of sugar.”

She said fructose was the dangerous half of the sugar molecule and was often called “fruit sugar” which made it sound healthy. “It is not. Fructose, and other sugars, are added to processed foods, pushing up our sugar intake without us being aware of it.”

A LCHF breakfast consisting of two eggs, two to four rashers of bacon and a coffee with heavy cream would total four grams of sugar, less than a teaspoon, preventing the insulin spike that high carbs cause.

“People worry about eating eggs every day,” said Creed, “but eggs are the perfect food and have all the nutrients we need, except for Vitamin C.

“Some worry that a high fat diet will clog their arteries and give them hypertension, obesity and gout, but it is carbohydrates, sugar and processed foods that are a problem.”

If you fear you’ll curl up and die if hot chips or ciabattas are removed from your life, fear not. Banting Buddies – coaches trained by Creed to help banters – are there to help.

Desire de Vincenzo, who lost 12 kilos by Banting, is one of several buddies in the province.

“It’s a matter of educating people about what they can eat and what they cannot,” she says. “There is so much mis-information on social media and a lot of people say they are Banting but they are not doing it correctly”

 

Some newbies experience “low carb flu” when they switch to this way of eating. Symptoms include headaches, nausea, upset stomach, fatigue and more, and can last two days to two weeks. According to the Banting Buddies’ website, this happens because the body has been used to burning energy from carbs and it has to learn to burn fat for fuel instead. The transition phase causes these symptoms.

Once over the initial adjustment period, people start to feel energised and reap benefits that include weight loss, improved muscle tone, better skin and teeth, clearer thinking, fewer mood swings, improved sleep and more, says De Vincenzo.

Banting has also been good for business with home industries springing up, claiming to make or supply Banting-friendly products.

“There are more than 1 000 businesses that have opened as a result of the Real Meal Revolution,” said Creed.

“But beware of people who are jumping on the bandwagon, putting canola oil, wheat and soya into products, passing them off as Banting-friendly. Before you buy, ask questions about the product. In a restaurant, ask what is in the food. Check that your food will not be cooked in vegetable oil or margarine. You need to be in charge of what goes in your mouth.”

For more information visit:

www.realmealrevolution.com

www.bantingbuddies.com

It is advisable to consult a LCHF-aware nutritional therapist or health-care professional before changing your diet.

Daily News

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