Q: I've embarked on a Banting/LCHF diet and love it, but want to know if I have to cut out everything sweet?
A: Technically, the answer is YES. Most people can cut out sugar quite easily, but fall into the artificial sweetener trap, which is just as bad, as it keeps you wanting sugary food. If you can remove sugar and sweet things from your diet - that's first prize. If you can't, you need to avoid the artificial sweeteners that interfere with brain chemistry. Rather use Stevia (a herb) powder, Xylitol (from the bark of the birch tree with half as many calories as sugar) or Erythritol, which is wonderful for baking and almost as sweet as sugar, yet without any carbohydrates. It's best not to use any sweeteners, but these are all natural and safe.
Q: It appears that oils such as canola, sunflower and other 'seed oils' aren't allowed on this programme. If so, why, and what can I replace them with in cooking?
A: That's correct; they are all too high in a fatty acid called Omega-6. We do need Omega-6 in our diet but we don't want to get it from damaged, toxic sources like seed oils, which are very unstable and cause inflammation, weight gan and disease. This is a well-documented fact. You will get more than enough Omega-6 from your diet as almost all food is rich in Omega-6 fatty acids, especially if it's REAL food (not denatured, processed etc). The seed old are highly unstable so they need to be heated to great temperatures to preserve them. Even the 'cold-pressed' variety quickly go off and get rancid. The bitter taste (for example in flaxseed oil) is a sign it has now become oxidised and harmful. The best liquid oils to use are macadamia but oil and extra-virgin olive oil. They must be in a glass jar so that the oil doesn't leach poisons from the plastic. You can either heat them very gently, or use them on salads. The stable oils for heating are real butter, lard, duck fat, ghee, goose far, virgin coconut oil (also only in glass containers) and dripping from your roasts or bacon.
Q: How fast can I expect to lose weight? I've been Banting for 2 weeks and have lost 2.9kgs.
A: That's a pretty good loss and fairly standard with a Banting/LCHF diet. Remember, this new lifestyle is a marathon, not a sprint! By sticking to the programme, you will lose steadily, but speed also depends on age, how long you have carried extra weight and how much extra weight you are carrying. Thyroid issues also play a part - there are so many variables! The weight probably took a long time to build up so you need to give the body a while to readjust now. The secret lies in keeping focused and not 'cheating', and allowing your body to do this at its own pace.
Q: Why does the Banting/ LCHF programme exclude all grain?
A: Grain is pure carbohydrate and the focus of this diet is low carbohydrate intake, moderate protein (preferably from an animal source) and high fat. Eating grains will quickly cause you to exceed your carbohydrate limit for the day - just one slice of bread is enough to do that. Grains are also highly inflammatory causing weight gain, ongoing digestive issues and brain fog, to name a few. The grain we have today is not the grain of the Bible - "give us this day our daily bread" no longer applies to modern, genetically altered grains.
The above article is courtesy of Sally-Ann Creed - a nutritional therapist. More about Sally-Ann can be found here: http://www.sallyanncreed.co.za/about-sally-ann/
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