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Tim Noakes is in the news again….this time 4 professors from UCT have signed a scathing letter to the Cape Times, criticising his promotion of a LCHF/Banting Lifestyle. Prof Tim is also a professor at UCT, so it’s a bit ugly coming out against your fellow workers…sort of like kindergarden, when young kids can’t get on. They are ‘telling on!’ but having no teacher to go to, they go to the press!
But there are (at least) 5 things which every eater can employ, that even the biggest critics of Banting cannot argue with.
1. Cut sugar! If there is only ONE thing you ever do in your life from now on, let it be this one: cut out as much sugar from your diet as you possibly can. I understand that Christmas, Easter and birthdays come around, but let sugar be a HUGE exception to the rule as to when you eat it. You will not believe how quickly your taste buds adjust to less sugar and you will soon be finding even the smallest amount sickly sweet. No medical critic will argue with this one.
2. Eat less! We ALL eat too much. We don’t need the amount of calories that we are used to consuming. Don’t fill your plate so full. Don’t snack. Eat when you are hungry. STOP when you are full. No medical critic will argue with this one.
3. Eat healthy fats/protein. There are numbers of healthy foods that fit all categories eg.avocado pear, raw nuts, olives, olive oil, fish, macadamia oil, free range chicken, ostrich meat. No medical critic will argue with these. Because you are eating less, you are not eating large quantities of them!
4. Cut out refined carbohydrates and anything with additives in them. Read the labels of the food you eat and chuck those that have anything added. It is a known fact that preservatives, corn syrup, chemically derived sugar additives, saturated and transfats, artificial flavouring, colourants and MSG are bad for you and in the long term can cause chronic illness. Every medical practitioner and clinical dietitian will agree with this. Sadly, even the commercially generated bread we eat is refined with sugar added. Cakes, donuts, chocolate bars, sweets, all ‘choc’ full of artificial stuff, that we were not designed to eat.
5. Know what you eat. Become informed. Read labels, investigate. The less refined the food, the better it is for you. Pluck it off a tree, pick it off a plant, watch a chicken lay it, catch it in a lake. When you know where it comes from, it is going to be far better for you than if you pour it out a box. No one will argue with this.
So let’s stop bickering and employ the common ground when it comes to eating.
After all, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Helga van Niekerk
www.helgavan.com
