Should your kids be Banting?

You would have had to be living in some sort of cave if the whole Tim Noakes debate hasn’t reached your ears by now. And if so, send me details of the cave: I’d love to join you!

Personally it’s no secret that every time anybody talks about this diet, I eat a breadroll. However, we cannot really ignore this seeming phenomenon as more and more people are turning on to the ‘revolution’. Especially as many of you are also considering it as a lifestyle choice for your kids. That concerned me quite a bit. Certainly we teach our kids the way we as a family eat: if you’re a vegetarian, so too will your family be vegetarian and you work around that lifestyle choice on a daily basis. So should the Noakes/Banting diet (Banting originally floated this way of eating back in the ‘20s so it’s not a Noakes original) but should we apply the same principle as vegetarianism in this instance? I asked our trusted paediatric dietitian Kath Megaw to erm, weigh in on the issue. At first I was pretty sceptical about the whole thing. But as somebody very much addicted to sugar, if you break down the facts of the diet, no or low sugar is certainly no bad thing. As with all things, moderation is always key. And more so with your children. Unless specifically recommended by your dietitian due to a very real condition such as epilepsy, it’s not advisable to let kids go into a ketogenic state. But there certainly is no reason not to limit carbs, cut out sugar and opt for high fat milk and yoghurt (you should be doing this anyway). I guess it comes down to education. Know as much as you can about any eating plan before attempting it yourself and certainly before putting your kids on it. Is it healthy? Is it sustainable? Is it affordable? Is it right for you and your own child? Perhaps it’s a great choice for you as you are really insulin-resistant and need to lose weight but what is the benefit to your child? And what are the long term effects of it? Are your kids able to sustain it inside and outside the home easily enough? Read the article for yourself in our latest issue on shelf now, but my message is don’t just slavishly follow the crowd especially when it comes to making choices for your family. These are pretty big choices and they should be yours and yours alone.