Maybe you’ve heard about it through a friend or the media, or someone at work who is following the lifestyle, or a family member who has been trying to convince you for two years now to give it a try … either way, you’re unlikely to have missed it. Banting is all over the show. It’s on everyone’s lips. Unless you live out in the bundu and your best friend is a cow or chicken, you will have heard about ‘Banting’, ‘The Real Meal’, ‘The Tim Noakes Diet’ or ‘LCHF’ (low carbohydrate, high fat) one way or another.
So what is all the hype about, and what on earth is Banting?
In short, ‘Banting’ is the term we use for the LCHF lifestyle originally introduced by William Banting’s doctor, Dr William Harvey, in the early nineteenth century. Without going into the whole history of the diet, we just need you to understand that ‘Banting’ in the context of this book is the word used when referring to LCHF. This book is not about the original diet prescribed by Dr Harvey in the 1800s; we just use the term ‘Banting’ because most people are familiar with it.
The Banting lifestyle advocates a ketogenic diet – that is, a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates (‘carbs’) – and eating only real, healthy and fresh foods minus additives, chemicals, preservatives and other harmful ingredients. One of the aims of The Banting Solution is to help you understand how to make the Banting lifestyle work for you in terms of first losing weight and then maintaining your weight loss.
Many of you wanting to embrace this lifestyle are overwhelmed by all the information available on social media and the internet. We are here to answer any questions you might have, to cover your most common health concerns, and to help you get started on this journey. You need to remember that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all lifestyle or diet. This brings us to that horrid word ‘diet’. Banting is NOT a diet, it is NOT a fad and it is definitely NOT a short cut to weight loss. It is a shift from how you are currently eating to a new way of living; in short, it is a lifestyle change. Remember, what works for you won’t necessarily work for someone else. You need to take the content of this book and decide what is applicable to you and implement that, and leave what is not applicable. This book is not designed to tell you ‘yes’ or ‘no’; it is not a rule book whose commandments you have to follow or you’ll be doomed forever. Each of us is unique and our nutritional needs must be treated as such. We give you great advice in this book, but it is still your choice at the end of the day whether you are going to follow it. Nobody is holding a gun to your head. Should you feel that we have not covered a topic that applies to you, you are welcome to make contact with us.
What follows is a quick overview of The Banting Solution to help you navigate through the book.
In Part One, we look at the reasons why we get fat and what we can do about it. We discuss macronutrients – proteins, fats and carbohydrates – and explain the role of each in the Banting lifestyle. Most importantly, we discover whether ‘too much or too little’ of each macronutrient is a good or a bad thing. We end by taking a quick look at carbohydrate intolerance.
In Part Two, we first do some serious myth-busting, and then we zoom in on the most common health concerns of adopting an LCHF lifestyle. We examine health issues that may be helped by following this lifestyle, and we discuss supplements.
Part Three offers a 15-step guide to Banting for weight loss. These are the tools you are going to need on your Banting journey from weight loss to maintenance.
Part Four includes general notes on exercise, ketosis, weight-loss scenarios and solutions to break through fat-loss plateaus, as well as some frequently asked questions.
Part Five is where you will find food lists, ingredient lists, meal plans, basic recipes and a beginner’s exercise plan.
There is no debate among nutrition experts that everybody can benefit from removing processed foods, added sugars, refined carbohydrates and junk from their diets, but they don’t all agree that we should all be eating low-carb diets. Indeed, it is not necessary for everybody to limit carbs substantially. There are people who tolerate a high-carbohydrate intake (of course, here we are referring to carbohydrates from whole-food sources).
It is important to mention here that slim is not necessarily healthy. It is quite easy for people to be metabolically unhealthy or to suffer the detrimental effects of a poor diet without being overweight. A low-carb diet is not just for those who need to slim down; it is very effective for correcting a number of health issues. You can find more detail on these in Part Two of this book.
Studies have repeatedly shown that a diet low in carbohydrates and high in healthy fats comes out tops for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome and for the correction of unhealthy cholesterol. The question is, then, are there any people who should be excluded from Banting?
Essentially, no.
As you will see throughout this book, this is not a one-size-fits-all eating plan. Level of carbohydrate intake can be adapted to the individual, and for those who are concerned about the consumption of too much saturated fat, there is the alternative of using monounsaturated fats like extra-virgin olive oil.
If you have any health concerns, it is always advisable to be guided by a Banting-friendly health-care professional before you commence a new eating plan, especially if you are taking medication that may require adjusting when following a low-carb diet.
While many people can follow the Banting lifestyle on their own with great success, we have found just as many Banters who need that extra support or fine-tuning, that little push in the right direction, that bit of help to get them going. If this sounds like you, this book is about to become your number-one tool.