The Banting diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan, has gained popularity for its potential weight loss and health benefits. This article delves into the details of the Banting diet, providing a comprehensive food list, meal plan examples, and insights into its effectiveness and safety.
What is the Banting Diet?
The Banting diet was perhaps the first high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet plan to be officially invented. Brought to life by a man called William Banting in the 19th century, it encourages participants to opt for a low carb diet and instead, fill up on high-fat foods. In a booklet called 'Letter on Corpulence, Addressed To The Public', Banting outlined how he managed to successively lose a substantial amount of weight by eating meat, green vegetables, fruits and dry wine while avoiding sugar, starch, beer, milk and butter.
More recently a South African scientist, Tim Noakes, has adapted the original Banting diet and documented his version in a book titled the Real Meal Revolution. The updated version has more than a passing resemblance to the keto diet, it continues to restrict carbs to 5-10 per cent of daily calories, with 65-90 per cent from fat and 10-35 per cent from protein.
How Does the Banting Diet Work?
The Banting diet is essentially a low-carbohydrate plan, so it works similarly to others in that it aims to push the body into burning stored fat for energy rather than carbohydrates. When you restrict carbohydrates, your body is forced to burn fat for energy. James explains, "The body uses carbohydrates as its main source of energy. To help glucose enter the body's cells, insulin is released so the glucose can be used for energy. This extra glucose is stored in the muscles and liver, while some is converted into body fat. This is how a low-carb diet leads to weight loss, as it is intended to cause the body to burn stored fat for energy."
The Four Phases of the Banting Diet
Tim Noakes’ revised the original Banting diet into four distinct phases designed to lead the dieter to a new pattern of eating.
Read also: Banting Diet Guidelines
- Phase 1: Observation - for one week you continue to eat your existing diet, without change, but you keep a comprehensive food diary to help you recognise how your body responds to the food you eat.
- Phase 2: Restoration - for the next 2-12 weeks, depending on how much weight loss is needed, you follow a restoration phase which is designed to restore gut health and acclimatise you to the Banting way. During this phase you’ll start to follow the food lists, avoiding all foods from the red and light red lists and relying on those on the green and orange lists. By sticking to the food lists you won’t need to calorie count or control your portion sizes.
- Phase 3: Transformation - this phase goes one step further, with the aim being to achieve ketosis. This is the toughest stage and the one closest to the original Banting diet. You will be required to stick only to the green list of foods. Lasting for as long as it takes you to reach your goal weight, you’ll also be encouraged to implement lifestyle modifications including exercise, intermittent fasting and meditation.
- Phase 4: Preservation - the final phase lasts indefinitely and starts as soon as you reach your goal weight. The phase is more flexible, allowing the re-introduction of some foods, such as those from the orange list. By now you’ll have a better understanding of the foods which work for you and your weight maintenance, allowing you to personalise your plan and sustain your weight loss goals.
The Banting & Keto Green List
The Banting & Keto Green List is designed to help you eat well without compromise. These are real, whole foods that you can find at your local grocery store or market-no exotic ingredients required. This list includes a variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, proteins, fats, and condiments that are essential for Keto.
Why does the Green List Matter?
- It’s Delicious and Satisfying
- Helps Achieve your Health Goals
- Easy to Find
For the best results on your Banting or Keto diet, it’s recommended to make these Green List fruits and vegetables a major part of your diet. In fact, they should form a larger portion of your meals compared to meat, fat, or supplements. This approach ensures you get the most benefits from your diet plan.
Foods to Include and Avoid on the Banting Diet
The Banting diet encourages you to avoid highly processed foods and eat more whole foods, whilst limiting gluten, starches, dairy and caffeine.
Green List: Foods to Eat Without Restriction
The foods you can eat without restriction are documented on the green list and include food such as:
- Vegetables including leafy greens, cruciferous veg, onions and shallots, rhubarb, mushrooms and fennel
- Fruits including lemon and lime, tomatoes and olives
- Meat, fish, poultry, eggs and cheese
- Fermented foods including kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut
- Fats such as avocado, butter, ghee and cream
- Condiments including vinegar, soy sauce or tamari
- Caffeine-free drinks including herbal teas, flavoured and plain water
Orange List: Foods to Eat in Moderation
The 0range list includes foods which are nutritionally good for you, but which the diet believes should be eaten in moderation, at least until you reach your weight loss goal. These include foods such as:
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- Nuts
- Dairy including milk, yogurt and soured cream
- Fruits including apples, banana, berries and oranges
- Vegetables including beetroot, squash, sweetcorn, carrots and potatoes
- Legumes and pulses
- Fermented foods such as kombucha
- Drinks including caffeinated tea and coffee
Red List: Foods to Avoid
The diet restricts starchy, processed and sugary foods and has two ‘red’ avoid lists. The light red list includes foods you should hardly ever consume, examples of these include:
- Smoothies and juices
- Treats and chocolate including dried fruit, honey and high-cocoa chocolate (over 80% cocoa)
- Gluten-free grains such as oats, quinoa, rice and buckwheat
- Flours including gram and rice flours
The red list includes the foods you should never eat. Examples of these include:
- Fast food, chips, foods with added sugar as well as sweetened condiments including ketchup
- Sweets - all confectionery and non-dark chocolates, jam, golden syrup
- Gluten - barley, couscous, orzo, rye, semolina, spelt and wheat
- Grain-based foods such as breakfast cereal and crackers
- Dairy-related - coffee creamers, commercial cheese spreads, condensed milk and ice cream
- Fats - processed spreads, corn oil, margarine and sunflower oil
- Processed meats - highly processed sausages and meats cured with sugar
- Drinks - energy drinks, soft drinks, commercial juices and milkshakes
Sample Banting Diet Meal Plan
Here’s a sample seven-day Banting diet meal plan to give you an idea of what a typical week might look like:
MONDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 46 - 52 | Protein (g) 91 - 110 | Fat (g) 133 - 152
- Breakfast: 2 - 3 egg Omelette / fried eggs in butter with cheese, red pepper, tomato and sauteed onion
- Lunch: 1/2 - 2/3 tin tuna in brine with 2 - 3 Tbsp Banting mayo, 1/2 - 3/4 avo, 1/4mango diced (optional), diced cucumber, with salad dressed with olive oil and apple cider vinegar / apple vinaigrette
- Dinner: 1/2 - 1 cup mince (made with onion, tomato paste/ tinned tomatoes, seasonings and green listed veg - no sugary additives like All Gold tomato sauce) and 1/2 - 1 cup cauli-mash and minimum 1 cup broccoli
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea. Unlimited water or herbal teas. *can add cream to coffee and tea
- Snacks: Smoothie made with 1/4 cup coconut milk, 1/4 cup yoghurt/kefir, 1/4 cup blueberries, 1/2 tsp xylitol (optional)
TUESDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 57 - 58 | Protein (g) 99 - 118 | Fat (g) 128 - 143
- Breakfast: 1/4 cup Banting granola (toast a mixture of nuts and seeds with some spices) with 1 cup yoghurt/kefir, 1/4 papaya and 1 - 2 boiled eggs
- Lunch: Left over 1/2 - 1 cup mince (made with onion, tomato paste/ tinned tomatoes, seasonings and green listed veg - no sugary additives like All Gold tomato sauce) and 1/2 - 1 cup cauli-mash and minimum 1 cup broccoli
- Dinner: 100g - 120g Portion grilled / roast chicken with 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin, 1/2 cup green beans 1/4 sweet potato roasted, and gravy made from pan juices (reduce with a dollop of cream and butter)
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea. Unlimited water or herbal teas.
- Snacks: 1/2 cup kombucha (replace one of your drinks for the day with this) and 30g - 40g macadamia nuts
WEDNESDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 40 - 42 | Protein (g) 86 - 104 | Fat (g) 137 - 157
- Breakfast: 2 egg Omelette with filling of 1 bacon rasher, swiss chard, cheese, broccoli and mushrooms with a rocket and tomato salad
- Lunch: Salad with 50g - 70g left over chicken, brined pickles, 1/2 cup asparagus, boiled egg and 2 - 3 Tbsp Banting mayo
- Dinner: 100g - 120g salmon fillet with 1/2 cup sweet potato, 1 cup green-list veg with a homemade creamy-lemon butter sauce (make a lemon butter and then add a dollop of cream to finish), with capers (optional)
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea. Unlimited water or herbal teas.
- Snacks: 1 cup chicken bone broth and 30g macadamia nuts
THURSDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 58 - 60 | Protein (g) 113 - 121 | Fat (g) 129 - 149
- Breakfast: 1/4 cup Banting granola (toast a mixture of nuts and seeds with some spices) with 1 cup yoghurt/kefir, 1/4 mango and 1 - 2 boiled eggs
- Lunch: Tuna/egg mayo (1/2 tin tuna/2 boiled eggs), 2 Tbsp Banting mayo, with 1/2 - 1 avo, radishes, brined pickles watercress and seed crackers
- Dinner: Crispy grilled pork chop with a mixture of sauteed onion, fennel and apple, 1/2 cup cauli-mash and 1/4 cup sauerkraut, with a gravy made from pan juices and chicken stock
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea. Unlimited water or herbal teas.
- Snacks: 1 cup Bone broth with handful fatty biltong
FRIDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 62 - 72 | Protein (g) 110 - 129 | Fat (g) 113 - 128
- Breakfast: 2 - 3 fried eggs with 1/2 avo, grilled tomato and grated cheese
- Lunch: Leftover Crispy grilled pork chop with a mixture of sauteed onion, fennel and apple, 1/2 cup cauli-mash and 1/4 cup sauerkraut, with a gravy made from pan juices and chicken stock
- Dinner: Grilled white fish fillet (100g - 120g) with a few sweet potato wedges, 1/2 cup peas and 1/4 cup sauerkraut/kimchi
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea. Unlimited water or herbal teas.
- Snacks: 30g macadamia nuts
SATURDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 46 - 48 | Protein (g) 114 - 138 | Fat (g) 158 - 189
- Breakfast: 2 - 3 eggs scrambled with 1 - 2 pork/beef sausages (no fillers) with sauteed spinach and grated cheese
- Lunch: 2 fish cakes made with leftover fish and mayo on crunchy salad of spinach, red cabbage, grated carrot and radish with an olive oil and apple cider dressing / apple vinaigrette
- Dinner: 1 - 2 Low carb pancakes filled with spicy mince, with 1/2 smashed avo, 1 - 2 Tbsp sour cream/ kefired sour cream and grated cheese
- Drinks for the day: 1/2 cup kombucha (replace one of your drinks with this)
- Snacks: 1/2 cup kombucha (replace one of your drinks with this)
SUNDAY
- Daily Total: Carbs (g) 63 - 87 | Protein (g) 91 - 99 | Fat (g) 117 - 125
- Breakfast: 2-3 Low carb pancakes with 1 - 1.5 small bananas, 2 - 3 Tbsp nut butter, cinnamon and a dollop of yoghurt with 2 rashers crispy bacon
- Lunch: Leftover spicy mince on 1/2 - 1 buttered sweet potato with 1/2 smashed avo, 1 - 2 Tbsp sour cream/ kefired sour cream and grated cheese
- Dinner: 100g - 120g Grilled chicken breast, with sauteed mushrooms and peppers on a bed of courgette noodles with a squeeze of lemon and a pat of butter
- Drinks for the day: 2 black coffees a day or 4 cups of black tea.
Potential Benefits of Following the Banting Diet
Studies suggest that when we significantly restrict the carbs in our diet we stimulate the body to use fat for energy, this appears to have a number of beneficial effects including:
- Weight loss - because the diet promotes fat burning, weight loss and improvements in body mass index (BMI) may be achieved, with men being especially successful;
- Better energy - fat burning preserves muscle energy, and as a result may enhance exercise performance and endurance;
- Better blood sugar control thanks to reduced fasting insulin levels, which may help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes;
- Reduced risk of heart disease due to lower levels of fats (triglycerides) and cholesterol circulating in the blood stream, which may also have a beneficial effect on blood pressure;
- Improved appetite control - reduced levels of triglycerides appears to have a positive effect on the hormone leptin, which allows us to get back in touch with our hunger signals;
- Improved sleep - this may be an indirect benefit from weight loss or may be because LCHF diets appear to promote a brain chemical called adenosine which helps regulate sleep.
The new Banting diet may have additional benefits over other LCHF diets because it combines a number of dietary strategies, including practicing intermittent fasting, mindfulness and making lifestyle changes to support your new eating plan.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Is the Banting Diet Safe?
The long-term effects of the Banting diet are unknown and there's no formal evidence to suggest they are safe if continued, James tells GoodtoKnow. While low-carb and the Banting diet can be effect for weight loss in the short-term, the long-term effects of them are unknown and there is no formal evidence to suggest they are safe if continued. As Banting is essentially low-cab, high-fat diet, there have been warning about possible health risks regarding strokes, heart disease and diabetes. It's also not recommended for everyone - especially women who are breastfeeding. It can affect the amount of milk produced and may lead to ketoacidosis. This is a life threatening condition where the body runs out of insulin.
Who Shouldn’t Follow the Banting Diet?
It is advisable to refer to your GP or healthcare professional before starting any new dietary regime especially if you are under 18 years old, elderly, have a pre-existing medical condition or are on medication.
How to Reduce Side Effects
When you're on the Banting diet, it's best to increase your water and salt intake to replace what your body has lost. "Drinking a glass of water mixed with half a teaspoon of salt during your first week of the diet can help ease symptoms. Repeat this once or twice daily," Abbie says.
When you restrict carbohydrates enough to push the body into ketosis, side effects typically include:
- Headaches
- Bad breath
- Weakness and fatigue
- Constipation
- Heart palpitations
Tips for Following the Banting Diet
- Meal planning is essential: Cook in bulk and portion out meals for the week.
- Be prepared: Always have snacks on hand in case you get hungry.
- Listen to your body: If you’re feeling fatigued, have headaches, or experience constipation, speak to your doctor.
- Ensure adequate nutrient intake: Since the Banting diet eliminates entire food groups, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough nutrients.