WEEKEND Finding the diet that suits you
18 High-fat, low-carb or low-fat, medium protein, it is hard to know what diet one should follow these days. explores the roots of the high-fat, low-carb diet trend
food we eat,” she said.
“Ancestral diets have gathered more steam over the last four years, pushed in fact by anthropologists who are looking at what our ancestors ate from the Stone Age, 2.6-million years ago right through to 12 000 years ago just before the agricultural revolution.
“This revolution introduced the wide-scale processing of different types of grain,” said Ferrucci, “as well as legumes, fruit, dairy and grain-fed meats.
“According to our ancestral genomes we are geared to thrive on meat and tubers as well as green vegetables, wild fruits such as berries and occasional nuts and honey. We have to remember our ancestors ate all parts of the animal, from hoof to tail.
“Early man ate the fat, the organs and the mar-
“Honey can be eaten in small amounts as you would imagine our forefathers raiding a beehive – the honey gathered from one beehive would only go so far in the tribe,” said Ferrucci.
What both philosophies do agree on is the exclusion of vegetable seed oils and grain cereals.
Ferrucci explains that vegetable seed oil and grain breakfast cereals only came into vogue in the 70s.
“That’s when polyunsaturates were king and breakfast cereal invented. It was also when the Standard American Diet pyramid, with fat at the top of the pyramid and carbohydrates at the bottom, was promoted as the correct way we should be eating,” she said.
She said at the time there were no conclusive scientific studies to say this is what we should be eating for healthy hearts and longer-lasting lives.
“In fact quite recent studies suggest Switzerland and France have the highest fat consumption and yet the lowest rate of heart disease in Europe,” she added.
Ferrucci went to great lengths to point out to her audience that the Paleo diet was a lifestyle. “We have to remember that following this also means considering what else ancient man did – he moved around a lot, he got plenty of sleep, he lived in a family group.”
Banting’s roots are attributed to a London doctor, William Harvey, who placed his obese patient, undertaker William Banting, on a diet that limited carbs, and provided a medium protein and increased saturated fat intake.
This is the origin of the Atkins diet in the 1970s and Tim Noakes’ Banting diet.
Ferrucci explained that modern low-carb, high-fat dieters often go wrong with the amount of fat and protein they consume. The ratio on a Paleo diet should be 60% fat, 20% protein and 20% carbs. However some Banters or those following other ketogenic diets consume between 60 and 80% fat.
“A rough guideline would be the equivalent of four tablespoons of fat other that what is consumed in the protein, and a single portion of protein should be about the size of the palm of your hand.
“If you want to become a fat burner instead of a glucose burner you should limit your carbohydrate intake to 60g or less a day.
“Half a cup of oats is about 25g. An apple is 22g of carbs. Add in the milk in your cups of tea and you see it quickly adds up,” says Ferrucci.
“It makes sense to use your carbs on other vegetables,” she says.
One of the arguments against the high-fat diet is the level of saturated fats consumed – but, as Ferrucci puts it, if your body is in a fat-burning state – and that’s where strict adherence to the diet is important – this saturated fat is the first thing that will be consumed.
“It won’t be around in your body to be a problem.”