Cape Town - The city of Cape Town is the starting point of a Banting revolution that could spread throughout the world, Tim Noakes said this weekend.
The revolution had already begun, he said, because Banting was not just for the rich.
Noakes was speaking at a Cape Times sugar-free breakfast at the Table Bay Hotel on Saturday.
While he did not make reference to it, Noakes is appearing before a Health Professionals Council of SA disciplinary hearing on a charge of misconduct. In February he tweeted, advising a mother to wean her baby on a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet.
One of the restrictions on the Banting diet is sugar.
The late Dr Chris Barnard’s granddaughter, Karen Thomson, was also one of the speakers and told the hundreds of attendees about her battle with sugar addiction.
Uk Cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, who is in South Africa to support Noakes during his hearing, said diets high in sugar were leading to millions more people battling with diabetes.
“With an oversupply of cheap, sugar-dense food, people are more prone to diabetes,” he said.
Noakes also spoke about getting people in poorer communities to follow the Banting diet.
“Poorer communities can have access to a healthier lifestyle without the high cost of ‘culinary intercourse’,” he said. Members of the Tim Noakes Foundation have been taking the Banting mantra to areas like Delft, Ocean View, Lavender Hill and Villiersdorp.
Since experiencing the health benefits, Ocean View resident Darrol Fowkes joined the Tim Noakes Foundation as a volunteer after he lost 20kg on the Banting diet.
He weighed 130kg and it took him five months to lose the weight.
“I took part in the intervention programme to promote Banting in Ocean View in June. The programme lasted about five weeks,” said Fowkes.
Fowkes now goes to communities to show how affordable this change in life-style can be.
“Replacing bread, potatoes and pasta with broccoli and spinach are just some of the affordable changes you can make,” he said.
Besides cutting out carbs, Fowkes has also followed a sugar-free diet where he has replaced juices and carbonated cooldrinks with lemon water.