Most of us know that feeling. The one where your stomach convinces you that you’ve held out long enough. Have a piece of cake, enjoy that burger, you deserve it!

Then Monday comes, you haven’t lost any weight after all your hard work and your diet starts all over again. This makes you frustrated because you are not seeing the results you want. And who can blame you?

It’s not realistic to avoid carbs for the rest of your life.

One also can’t ignore the fact that high protein diets (I.e. large amounts of red meat) have been labelled as having negative impacts on health – ranging from increased risk of colorectal cancer and diabetes to greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer.

One can hardly blame people for being so hesitant to start a diet – they are hesitant because of health risks and because they believe that it is impossible to avoid carbohydrates completely.

We agree!

“Low Carbs”, “No carbs”, “Banting”, “high fats”, “high protein” and “carb-free” are catch-phrases at the moment, with many jumping on the bandwagon in order to lose some weight. But do you understand exactly what these terms are and what they mean for weight loss?

Now, before you read any further, please understand that we are in no way endorsing a no-carb diet or even a high-protein diet.  What we can say is that the correct types of carbohydrates in the correct portions are actually very healthy.

Our human physiology has not really changed much over the past 500 years, but our environment has. Humans have always relied on carbohydrates for energy. The difference is, in today’s modern lifestyle humans have become used to low levels of activity, excessive portion sizes and calorie rich/nutrient-poor processed foods. Most conventional diets usually consist of 50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fat.

Obese persons have a ‘disturbed’ carbohydrate metabolism and cannot digest such a high percentage of carbohydrates. This is the main cause of obesity and its related diseases.

To tackle the ever increasing obesity problem, we need to go back to nature. Nature offers us proteins, fats, vegetables and fruit. Man offers us refined sugar and processed foods.

This is the basis of the Banting/Tim Noakes way of eating. Banting advocates a low carb/high fat lifestyle, avoiding carbohydrates (including starchy vegetables) as much as possible.

The Banting Diet was first prescribed by Dr. William Harvey in 1861 for a hefty undertaker named William Banting. After William Banting successfully trimmed down because of this diet it became very popular and gained a lot of momentum.

Noaks advocates animal protein, full cream dairies (including milk, yogurt and cheese) and an intake of between 25 – 50 grams of carbohydrates a day (nett carbs, meaning total carbs minus fibre). This is basically a ketogenic diet.

Sun-Diet works on the same principle, removing carbohydrates from your diet – but only for the first phase of the program. We advocate a carbohydrate-controlled eating plan. We all need carbohydrates, protein and fat in our diets to keep the body functioning at an optimum level.  The crux lies within balanced and controlled amounts!

What most people don’t realise is that an excess of carbohydrates causes hunger because it stimulates the body to produce insulin which lowers

the blood sugar. Low blood sugar tells your body:

“Eat — you are hungry”.

The key words here, once again, are balanced and controlled amounts of macronutrients. If you eat the correct proportions of each food group, then your body will be able to digest it all properly. The only carbohydrates that you should eliminate from your diet, if you want to maintain a healthy weight, are refined sugars such as cakes, sweets, bread, etc.

This might seem like an impossible task right now, but after eating from the correct food groups in the correct proportions you will not experience the sugar cravings that you have experienced in the past. This might sound strange – but you won’t even notice that you are not eating these types of carbs.

According to a survey done amongs our clients at The Diet, more than 94% of them are maintaining their weight after 1 year upon completion of the program. The majority of them experienced weight gain of a kilogram or two, as life sometimes happens and you give in to the food available at parties, family gatherings, etc. The good news is that your body will already be conditioned to your way of eating and you will lose the weight once you follow your eating plan again.

With a success rate of 94% at The Diet, the question shouldn’t be “Is this way of life sustainable?” It should be, “Why aren’t we doing this already?”

The post Is Banting Sustainable? first appeared on Sun Diet.