Banting Diet

While I was in Cape Town this summer, I learned all about the trendiest South African diet, the Banting Diet. I was first introduced to this diet while at a three day youth summit human rights workshop in Khaleylitsha, the biggest township in Cape Town. At this summit, one of the speakers was a woman named Michel who was there on behalf of the South African Jewish Holocaust Center. 

Everyone was talking while we waiting for the afternoon tea and refreshments to be served. Michel made a comment to me about how she could not eat any of the muffins that would inevitably be served. Due to the concept of "African time," we ended up waiting for over an hour before the refreshments were actually brought out. This gave Michel plenty of time to explain the entire history of the Banting diet as well as the rules and guidelines.  

The Banting diet is named after William Banting, who was the first person to champion the diet and lose significant amounts of weight. Since his success, this low carb high fat diet has gained incredible popularity in Cape Town. The rules of the diet are simple, you can only eat low carb foods. This means that foods with flour and sugar are prohibited. In addition to the staples of meat, eggs, and vegetables, high fat foods such as cheese and butter are encouraged. The idea of the diet is that without carbs, your body goes into an extreme fat burning state. Although Michel did not know the exact science behind this diet, she claimed to have lost over 30 pounds in less than a few months. 

After learning about this diet from Michel, I started to notice "Banting friendly" signs all over restaurants, cafes, and grocery stores in Cape Town. In addition, I became more aware of the trend for "full fat" dairy items that are typically not as popular in the United States. When I told my parents about it during one of our weekly facetime sessions, they told me about the Atkins diet which relies on a similar low carb model. Although I never tried out the Banting diet for myself, I gained a better understanding and awareness of Cape Town's food culture and societal trends.