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
A lot can happen in 21 days
You know the feeling of wanting to try something new but never had the time to do so? Or you did try something new, but you only did it for 1 or 2 days? You may have either gotten bored of doing it or you just lacked the discipline of continuing with it.
Well, as we are all currently under lockdown for the next 21 days to control the spread of Covid-19, we can learn a lot during this time. Try something new for 21 days and stick to it, even it is something big or small, it is completely up to you.
Here are some ideas:
- Doing yoga in your home
- Reading a couple of books
- Quitting smoking
- Home workouts
- Cooking different meals
- Trying a new diet
- Drinking more water
- Trying out a new skin care routine
- Not biting your nails
- Quitting alcohol
- Quitting cool drinks
- A short online course
Why specifically 21 days?
This is based on a long-time belief that it takes 21 days to fully form a new habit. According to research it apparently takes 21 days to form a new habit into your routine. Research states 21 days is the time required to for a new neuropathway to be fully formed in your brain.
Now the 21-day trial in some cases is claimed to be a myth, however 21 days is a comfortable time period to build and maintain a new a habit. You will either learn that is something you like doing or not.
Why try it for 21 days first?
- Procrastination
Many people have low commit levels and therefore start procrastinating on developing new habits, new habits are meant to be good and bring you significant benefits into your lives. The idea of doing something may be overwhelming.
When you try something for 21 days, the task becomes much more manageable. If you think about it 21 days is just 3 weeks which is much shorter commit period than forever. Since you are trying something new you don’t need to commit beyond 21 days if it something you didn’t enjoy. Instead you can either go back to how you were doing things or try something new for another 21 days.
2.Great way to try new things
Let’s be honest trying something new really won’t hurt in anyway. 21 days is a great way to try something new, challenge yourself. Explore, see what you like and don’t like. Learn about yourself in the process as well. The whole point is to experience a new habit and to do things differently for 21 days and remember this is a trial so if you don’t like it do away with it and try something else.
3.Good way to build good habits
Remember you should be testing out a new habit that will be good for you. So as much as you are trying something new, it should be something that you will benefit from. This may be something which is good for your health, self-esteem, build up your confidence, reaching your goals etc.
How to succeed in these 21 days
- Research about your new task
- Spend some time mentally preparing yourself for your new task
- Track your progress during the 21 days
During these 21 days try something new and see how it works out for you. 21 days is a long time to do nothing. Make the most of it and remember trying something new doesn’t have to be a daunting task keep your tasks simple and achievable for you.
- Published in About, Beauty, Books, Bossing Up, Fitness, Food, GIRL TALK, Hair, Hair, health, Health, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Real Life Stories, Skin, Spirituality, Uncategorized
How To Thrive In A Stressful Time.
It is quite a stressful climate in South Africa right now and the world because of the corona virus and the COVID-19 disease it causes. It is easy to feel as though our goals and plans for the year have been thrown out. When you allow yourself to feel stressed you go into survival mode. You can’t be your best when you are in survival mode. To thrive and achieve we need to be relaxed and positive about our future.
The estimate is that 80% of the population will get the virus that causes COVID-19 and the experience globally so far is that those with weakened immune systems will get COVID-19. COVID-19 has symptoms similar to the flu and attacks the respiratory system and could result in pneumonia.
It is proven scientifically that when we stress we weaken our immune system. Many of us are stressing and anxious about getting the virus and further stressed by the impact it could possibly have on the economy, will we still have jobs?
When we are in stress or in anxiety we activate our sympathetic nervous system. This is known as the ‘flight or fight’ system that is for survival against threats. Early humans needed this system to survive in the wild against the many predators. When we are in a constant or prolonged state of stress or anxiety we literally make ourselves sick. There is direct link between all kinds of diseases such as cancer and the amount of anxiety and stress we exert on ourselves.
Spiritual leaders and personal coaches all over the world are trying to help us not to stress so we strengthen our immune systems. Spiritual leaders and authors like Deepak Chopra and Marrianne Williamson are conducting daily meditation and conversation sessions to help us shift from survival mode to focusing on how we want to thrive in our lives.
Here are some of their recommendations on how to thrive in a stressful or negative climate:
- Start off the morning by meditating and then going for a walk or a run or any workout you choose. Meditation is important because you go into your core and access divine love, strength, courage and peace.
- Watch or check the news once or twice a day tops, do not keep checking the news and working yourself into an anxious frenzy.
- Yes, do educate yourself on the virus and take precautionary measure when you go into public spaces.
- Keep yourself busy either do work, studying, reading a book, watching a movie and doing things, even small things like update your CV.
- Study or practice something you have always wanted to learn. There many free online courses right now. When we study or learn something, we want to learn we feel powerful and in charge.
- Keep clear to your vision. Set daily goals of things you want to achieve that are productive that help you move your life forward. Focus on the things or life you want, not what could be going wrong right now.
- Spend meaningful time a day being mindful, we have less to rush to now. Maybe 10mins three times a day in silence contemplating and visualizing. Be mindful of your thoughts and make them focus on what you want, not what you are worried about. When we are mindful and visualizing what we want, we are actually creating what we want.
- Keep a gratitude journal and right 4 things you are grateful for at the end of each day. Stay in that feeling of gratitude until you fall asleep. This way you set up your body to go into a deep, restful sleep that helps your body recover and heal itself.
- Keep your nutrition up and eat less junk food. Eating junk food actually lowers your immune system. Take a multivitamin, a multimineral and no less than 1000mg of Vitamin C. Eat as many fruits and veggies, preferably raw, like in smoothies.
- Keep in contact with those you love. Avoid conversations that cause worry and anxiety and focus on the love. Feeling love increases our immunity.
We all are capable of living the amazing lives we dream of; it all begins within. If we cultivate good, positive thoughts and keep positive about achieving our vision, there is no situation or amount of challenges that can keep us from achieving. Challenges are part of the journey, there will always be challenges, we need to cultivate habits of the mind and body that keep us positive. We can still thrive in 2020!
- Published in About, Bossing Up, Career Guidance, Fitness, Food, GIRL TALK, health, Health, Health & Beauty, Real Life Stories, Spirituality, Uncategorized
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
