The Banting Diet

This diet is one of the least known diets in the market but there has been plenty of testimonials from those who have tried it that claim that it is has done wonders for them. As people who are serious about keeping in tiptop shape, our diet is essential for weight loss and maintenance. It has been said that our diet constitutes about 80% of our physical weight loss journey and success. Therefore, basically what we eat will determine if we lose weight and reach our desired body weight loss or not. The banting diet is highly recommended for people who wish to burn or lose excess fat. It is a low carbohydrate high-fat diet. The idea behind the diet is that when your body shifts from consuming high-carbohydrate foods to lower carbohydrates and replacing the carbohydrates with high-fats, your body automatically drifts from burning carbohydrates for energy and burns fat instead.
Named after its founder William Banting, the diet is effective for several reasons, especially for people who are insulin resistant, carbohydrate intolerant, and people who find it rather difficult to lose stubborn fat. If you are carbohydrate intolerant it may mean that you are likely to gain weight around the waist area, you feel sluggish after consuming foods with high sugar content, you’re an emotional eater, you tend to gain weight a whole easier than your family and friends and your weight tends to fluctuate often. The term used to explain such is known as being carb resistant.
To be successful at this diet, you would have to understand your food and their nutritional information. When banting there are general foods that you are allowed to eat.

These include:
• Avocado
• Low carb fruit
• Dairy (cream, milk, cheese, etc.)
• Leafy green vegetables
• Eggs
• Meat with all the fat
• Fish and many more
Foods to avoid include:
• Potatoes
• High carb fruits and vegetables
• Artificial foods
• Junk
• Sugar
• Bread
• Oats
• Pasta
• Rice
Getting used to the diet will be very challenging at first, most of the time you find yourself being hungry because most of our go-to foods are mostly made up of high carbs as they are easy to prepare. But as time goes on you find it easier to cope.
Some tricks that can assist you:
1. Keep Busy, the less time you have to think about food, the better
2. Avoid ‘low fat’ items at the grocery store
3. Always prepare your food way before you get hungry
4. You can eat all of the fats you want
5. Incorporate some exercising for fast and efficient results
6. Keep things spiced up, don’t be boring
7. Patience is key
8. Drink loads and loads of water

Like any diet, there are benefits to the banting diet such as:
• The weight loss process begins almost instantly
• You are still able to enjoy the food that you thought was bad for while still losing weight.
• Your food cravings will begin to subside and you adopt new eating habits like eating fatty foods, which have been proven that they keep you feeling fuller for longer.
• There will be an overall feeling of well-being. You’ll have more energy, decreased levels of stress, and better sleep at night.
According to https://cheetathin.co.za/blogs/news/banting-diet 10 commandments need to be adhered to when on this diet.
These commandments need to be strictly followed:
1. Consume Animal Fat
2. Consume as many vegetables as possible
3. Snacking is a massive no unless the snack is banting friendly
4. Never lie to yourself about you are eating, take thorough precaution
5. Don’t overeat, but eat enough
6. Avoid consuming too much protein
7. Read food labels
8. Don’t consume too many fruits and nuts
9. Control your dairy intake
10. Stay strong

There’s a list of foods that are allowed to fall part of your banting diet, there’s a green list and red list:
Green List – a low carb list of the foods that can be consumed regularly:
Animal protein
• Eggs
• Poultry
• Meats
• Seafood
Vegetable
• Cauliflower
• Lettuce
• Avocados
• Broccoli
• Tomatoes
• Sauerkraut
• Spinach
• Aubergines
• Cabbage
• Spring onions
• Leeks Onions
• Pumpkins
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Radishes
• Asparagus
• Courgettes
Dairy
• Full-cream milk
• Cottage cheese
• Cream cheese
• Cream
• Full-cream Greek yoghurt
• Soft cheeses
• Hard cheeses
Fats
• Any rendered animal fat
• Macadamia nuts
• Almonds
• Avocado oil
• Nuts and seeds
• Olive oil
• Flaxseeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Sweeteners
• Butter
• Coconut oil
• Pine nuts
• Cheese
• Mayonnaise, full fat only
• Walnuts
These are all the recommended products that you can that will sustain the progress of the diet. Following the banting diet strictly and incorporating regular exercise is the best way to win and shed all of that unwanted body fat while enjoying all of the fat the world has to offer!

- Published in About, Food, health, Health & Beauty, Uncategorized
Does Vitamin C Help Prevent Flu, Cold or COVID19?
By Khanyisile Msebenzi
The Thursday before the lockdown in response to the COVID19 pandemic began in South Africa, I went to Clicks and Dischem looking to buy multivitamins, vitamin c in particular, and the shelves were empty. I panicked a little because I felt quite vulnerable all of a sudden, everybody new to take vitamins and bought them and now I had none, eek!

I eventually found a Vitamin C rich multivitamin and multimineral, but in all honesty, I don’t even know much about Vitamin C, except that we get it from fruits and veggies like citrus fruits and that it is good for preventing cold and flu. But I have totally forgotten my high school biology to really know why some media stories and medical practitioners were recommending 1000mg of Vitamin C a day…1000mg sounds like a lot to me.
Anyway I did some basic reading on Vitamin C, and perhaps this may help you. A quick search on Google showed that in a number of articles there was doubt that Vitamin C could help fight off flu and cold virus, let alone COVID19…so I had to research into medical journals…
Our bodies can’t produce Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid as it is known, and yet we need Vitamin C for important bodily functions, including metabolism and strengthening our immune system. We have to get Vitamin C from food intake and supplements. The foods with high levels of Vitamin C are fruits and vegetables, preferably fruits, where it can’t be cooked out with heat. Most multivitamins and multiminerals have Vitamin C.

Here is table of fruits and veggies with high levels of Vitamin C content:
Food sources of vitamin C | |
Food (serving size) | Vitamin C (mg) |
Guava (1 medium) | 165 |
Strawberries (1 cup) | 98 |
Cantaloupe (¼ medium) | 95 |
Papaya (1 medium) | 95 |
Bell pepper, red, raw (½ cup) | 95 |
Orange juice (¾ cup) | 60 |
Kale (1 cup, cooked) | 53 |
Broccoli (½ cup, cooked) | 50 |
Bell pepper, green, raw (½ cup) | 45 |
Tomato juice (1 cup) | 45 |
Mango (1 medium) | 30 |
Lemon juice (½ cup) | 30 |
Recommended Adult Daily Intake:
The recommended daily intake for Vitamins C is 65 to 90 milligrams a day, with an upper limit of 2,000mg a day. Vitamin C is water-soluble, so any excess is usually excreted in the urine rather than stored in the body. It’s safe in almost any amount from foods, and supplements in recommended amounts are also regarded as safe for most people.

Benefits of Vitamin C:
- Necessary for growth, development and repair of all body tissues
- Helps to protect cells and keeps them healthy
- Needed in the formation of collagen
- Assists in maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels, bones, cartilage, teeth
- Helps with wound healing
- Helps strengthen the immune system
- Helps the body absorb Iron
Lack of vitamin C can lead to:
- Scurvy
- Bruising
- Bleeding gums
- Weakness
- Fatigue
- Rash
Studies have shown that dietary rather than supplemental sources of vitamin C are more effective in keeping blood pressure in check.

What happens if I take too much vitamin C?
Taking large amounts more than 1,000mg per day, say 2,000 or 3,000mg a day of vitamin C can cause:
- stomach pain
- diarrhea
- nausea
- heartburn
- gastritis
- fatigue
- flushing
- headache
- insomnia.
People with chronic liver or kidney conditions, gout, or a history of calcium-oxalate kidney stones should take no more than 1,000 mg a day.
These symptoms should disappear once you stop taking vitamin C supplements.

Does Vitamin C Assist In Fighting Off Cold & Flu?
Yes it does! “Vitamin C helps the immune system work well in order to protect the body from diseases,” Dr. Ross tells Bustle. A study in Nutrients in 2017 found that vitamin C is essential to many aspects of our immune system, including killing off microbes and producing B- and T-cells, which are both key parts of our immune response. People with vitamin C deficiency, the study noted, tend to have impaired immunity and are more susceptible to infection, and supplementing with vitamin C can help prevent respiratory infections — like the flu. The more effective our immune systems are, the better they’re able to fight off the flu virus.
Overall, reported flu and cold symptoms in the test group decreased 85% compared with the control group after the administration of megadose Vitamin C.
Vitamin C in megadoses administered before or after the appearance of cold and flu symptoms relieved and prevented the symptoms in the test population compared with the control group.
I am taking between 1000 and 2000mg of Vitamin C in trying to ensure that if I happen to catch a cold, flu or COVID19, I experience mild symptoms. And as a disclaimer, I am not likening or inferring that COVID19 is a flu.
- Published in Fitness, Food, health, Health, Health & Beauty
What We Know About Corona & How To Protect Ourselves!
The novel Corona Virus is from the same family of viruses that cause SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). COVID-19 is the name of the disease it causes and the World Health Organisation has declared it a pandemic. This may be confusing because our South African President called it an epidemic.

An epidemic is an outbreak of a disease that spreads quickly and affects many individuals at the same time in the same place, like a country. It is an increase that was not anticipated and has grown out of control.
A pandemic is a type of epidemic that has spread to multiple geographic locations. In the case of COVID-19, it has spread to multiple countries and continents and is infecting a larger number of people.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease meaning the virus attacks the lungs and leads to pneumonia.
Anybody can contract COVID-19 but at most 2% of the population will develop severe illness that requires ventilator and hospitalization. Those most at risk are those with compromised immune systems and the elderly. It is estimated that 80% of the population will be infected and only present with mild symptoms.
The novel corona virus responsible for the current corona pandemic can live on stainless steel surfaces for up to 72 hours, cardboard for up to 24 hours and on copper for up to 4 hours.
Other corona viruses can live on metal, plastic and glass surfaces for 4 to 5 days.
Corona virus spreads through infected droplets that are let out when someone sneezes or coughs, and may survive on surfaces such as desks, phones and computer keyboards. That is why washing hands with water and soap is the best measure of prevention.
It spreads similar to the flu, if someone touches a contaminated surface and then touches their faces, eyes or mouth.
It is also a good idea to clean desk, phones, keyboards, cell-phones with a sanitizing solution that has 70% alcohol.
Wash hands with soap and warm water on a regular basis. The novel corona virus has an oil membrane around it and soap is best at penetrating and destroying that oily membrane.
Wear a mask if you are sick and have to go out, if you wear a cloth mask, make sure to wash with water that is as hot as possible and soap daily. Paper masks may not be the best but are better than nothing.

If you have a runny nose, throw tissues in bins that close.
If your work place has many people, do not be afraid to raise concern over the virus and request management to permit people to work from home.
Now that novel corona virus has been declared an epidemic in South Africa the following measures are being enforced.
- No gatherings of more than 100 people, including churches and weddings
- Practicing of social distance, keeping a distance of 2m when queuing for example, and no handshakes rather elbow bump
- Travel in well ventilated taxis and trains, ensure windows are wide open
- Avoid eating and drinking at restaurants and bars
- Eliminate unnecessary travel
- Schools are closed form 18 March until after 12 April
An official at WHO recommended that we all operate as though we have the virus and we want to limit others from contamination. But we must do this in a collaborative spirit and not selfish spirit that has seen foodstuffs and basic goods being sold out in stores in other countries.
A lady from Hong Kong says this is how her routine has changed, when she gets home, she takes off her shoes, sanitises them with a spray sanitiser, washes her hands with water and soap and takes off her mask and clothes and washes them with warm water, every single day.
Other measures to take aside from washing hands regularly include eating a balanced diet with plenty fresh fruits and veggies, taking multivitamins and multiminerals, drinking plenty of water to keep mouth and respiratory tract hydrated and moist.

- Published in Food, health, Health, Health & Beauty, Uncategorized