Cape Town - A group of Ocean View women have attested to the positive benefits they have enjoyed since starting the controversial Banting diet a month ago, and said they have convinced family and friends to try it out.
The women were among 40 participants who had committed to a month-long trial of the low-carb, high-fat diet as part of a community project by the Tim Noakes Foundation.
Professor Noakes said the project was started in Ocean View, not Bishopscourt, in an attempt to improve lives.
“This is ground zero and I wish every single doctor and critic of mine were here to see this. If we started in Bishopscourt where people are well-off, people will say ‘so what’; that’s why we had to start in a tough community so we can change the lives of people – and the evidence is abundantly clear,” said Noakes.
Participants could hardly contain their excitement when they presented feedback on the results and the impact the diet had had on their lives yesterday at the Soetwater Conference Centre in Scarborough.
Michelle Mokhuane, 35, said she had been touched and motivated when her brother-in-law, who suffers with stage 4 cancer, joined her on the Banting diet.
“He’s on chemotherapy and is always tired and vomiting but now the vomiting has subsided and his energy levels are up. He gives me the motivation not to stop and he’s even been to the mall thrice this week,” said a proud Mokhuane.
She joked that she now packed a Banting lunch for her taxi driver husband, who when asked about the food, tells people it’s “Ben10” as he is going to end up looking as slim as the cartoon character.
Mokhuane suffers from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (POCS) which is a condition in which the ovaries accumulate tiny “cysts” and makes ovulation difficult.
With the condition and a struggle to lose weight, she has very high blood pressure. But she says since eating Banting meals, her blood pressure has dropped significantly.
A staff nurse at the Stepping Stones Rehab Centre, Magdalene Saboul, 60, said last year she was given a copy of the diet but never tried it. But today she has even motivated some of her colleagues to join and is “not sorry” she started.
Some of the participants were already part of a local community gym programme when they were approached to join the trial where a diet was formulated to suit their budget. Soon the women formed a WhatsApp group where they shared ideas, motivated one another and where they could find cheaper grocery items.
Noakes lauded the women’s efforts and commended all involved, saying that when the history of Banting is going to be written it would have started with Ocean View. He has started writing a book, Descent into Quackery, adding that it is also dedicated to his critics.
Awards were handed to some of the participants including for the “most enthusiastic Banter”.
Mother of three Jessica Johns, 35, won for losing the most weight, shedding 6.3kg.
Noakes’ typical diet for a day
Breakfast: Eggs, bacon, |full-fat yoghurt, cheese.
Lunch: “I usually skip lunch or I would snack on macadamia nuts, almonds, biltong.
Supper: Vegetables with fish or meat.
The origins of Banting
The origins of the Banting diet can be traced to the 19 century when British undertaker and coffin-maker William Banter created the diet. Banting was well known in London for his obesity, and his girth increased each year. At the age of 66 the health complications caused by his massive size became unbearable. After trying various remedies with no success, he was advised to go on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. After a dramatic weight loss, Banting shared the diet with others in a pamphlet published in 1863.
Weekend Argus