Table of contents for Vol 16 - 2016 in LOSE IT! The Handbook

Our expert panel NUTRITIONAL THERAPIST SALLY-ANN CREED is the foremost and most experienced LCHF practitioner in South Africa. DR GERHARD SCHOONBEE, GP, has over 40 years of medical experience, and personal experience of living the LCHF lifestyle. He also has a deep scientific and medical interest in the subject. BLOG AUTHOR NICKY PERKS (WWW. PRIMALPERKS.COM) is also the CO-FOUNDER OF BANTING BUDDIES, which offers personalised coaching to those wanting to lose weight and get healthy. Please share your success stories, recipes, banting restaurant reviews, tips, questions and concerns with us on info@loseit.co.za, @loseitmag (Twitter and Instagram) and facebook.com/Loseitmag. We look forward to hearing your insights and experiences! LOOK OUT FOR OUR GORGEOUS LOSE IT! COOKBOOK, IT’S A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT! Welcome to the 16th issue of LOSE IT, The Low…

When we talk about eating raw food, we usually mean fruit and veg, as few people eat meat completely raw. And since we eat very little fruit in low-carb circles, for the purpose of this article, our focus is vegetables. It’s often assumed that eating raw vegetables is better because nutrients are ‘lost’ when food is cooked, and although it’s true that some vitamins are destroyed by heat, the minerals remain intact. Also, the cell walls of some vegetables are so hard that they have to be cooked to release the nourishment they offer. If you can’t digest food, you won’t derive any benefit from it, and cooked food is generally easier to digest than raw. In starchy veg, cooking not only improves digestibility but also neutralises their anti-nutrients, including…

a top chef and restaurateur, bestselling author, popular TV personality, dedicated health coach and devoted family man, Pete Evans positively throws himself into everything he does. Plus, he’s the picture of good health – an excellent ambassador for the paleo lifestyle he so passionately advocates. But Pete was brought up on his mother’s delicious homemade pizzas and was such a huge fan that, at 17, he started out as an apprentice to an Italian pizza maker. Then, when he and his brother first moved to Sydney and opened restaurants with a business partner, they focused on contemporary global food. Many Sydney Morning Herald Chef’s Hats and ‘Best in Australia’ awards later, his goal was still to open a ‘very cool pizzeria’, which he finally did at the age of 30.…

store cupboard 80% dark chocolate almond flour almonds, flaked arrowroot powder artichoke hearts baking powder banting crackers basil pesto bicarbonate of soda blueberries, dried brandy brazil nuts capers cocoa nibs cocoa powder coconut cream and milk coconut, desiccated coconut flour gelatine goji berries hazelnuts, ground and whole honey macadamia nuts mayonnaise, homemade mustard, dijon, grain and english orange blossom water orange extract pine nuts pistachio nuts pomegranate juice psyllium husks red rosebud tea rosewater sesame seeds, black soda water tomato juice vodka walnuts white wine xylitol, regular, icing and syrup fruit, veg & herbs apples, green asparagus avocados baby radishes baby spinach bay leaves blueberries, fresh brussels sprouts cabbage, red cauliflower celery chillies, mild red and green coconut strips/ shavings cranberries, frozen cucumber fennel bulbs kale lemons marjoram micro leaf…

YES MEAT As far as possible, choose grass-fed or organic meats. Enjoy the fat and the skin! • Bacon (try to find charcuterie bacon, if possible without nitrates and nitrites, and with the lowest carb content – which means the least sugar) • Beef • Biltong (for powdered, grind your own) • Chicken • Duck • Game • Home-cured meats (if buying cured meats, avoid those with sugar and strange chemicals) • Lamb • Offal • Pork • Sausages containing only meat and spices (no MSG or fillers like gluten, rusk, soy, sugar and so on) • Turkey EGGS Any way you like, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Real organic eggs are definitely best, if you can find them. FRUIT* • Avocado • Berries • Coconut FISH/SEAFOOD (on the SASSI…

‘AT school we were forced to take part in sport. I hated every minute of it! I was always the one running at the back. And kids can be so cruel. I’ve never been a big eater, but I did eat the wrong foods. When I was 11, I joined Weigh-Less. I planned every meal and nothing went into my mouth without being weighed first. It never crossed my mind to cheat. At weigh-ins, the most I’d ever lost was 0.5kg. The group leader always looked at me sadly and asked, “So, how’s your week been?” I went on to try every diet under the sun, quickly losing a little weight – but always putting it back on. Even when I allowed myself to “cheat”, I’d have low-fat or fat-free…

Q: I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and started taking metformin. Will I be able to fall pregnant one day? A: PCOS is the abbreviation for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Under normal circumstances, the ovary is stimulated to ovulate by hormones produced in the brain. A small follicle in the ovary grows into an ovum in a small cyst. During ovulation this cyst ruptures to release the ovum. With PCOS, the cyst doesn’t rupture to release the ovum and multiple cysts are formed in the ovary. These cysts are visible on an ultrasound examination of the lower abdomen. Because there is no ovulation, the normal hormone cycles are disturbed, leading to irregular menstruation and unbalanced hormone levels. The exact cause of PCOS is not clear, but the general consensus is that…

Q: What’s the deal with women and fat? A: The underlying question here is, should women have a high-fat diet? The answer is yes and no… it’s complicated. As yet, we don’t fully understand why women don’t seem to lose weight as easily as men do on a high-fat diet. But we do know that the moment hormones are involved, the fat ‘equation’ changes. Different amounts of fat suit different women, and it all ultimately boils down to our complex hormone balance and how active we are. Generally, a younger, healthy, fit woman can eat considerably more fat than a woman who is quite overweight and older than 35–40. A svelte female athlete who trains intensively and survives on a ketogenic diet has very different needs to a moderately active…

KEEP ON TRACK PER CUP Fat 1g Carbs 26g Protein 2g STRAWBERRY JAM MAKES ABOUT 1½ CUPS • 500g hulled strawberries • ¼ cup xylitol • 1 tsp vanilla extract 1. Place the strawberries in a blender and pulse until very finely chopped but retaining some texture. 2. Pour the blended strawberries and any juice that came out of them into a saucepan. 3. Add the xylitol and stir over medium heat until the xylitol has dissolved, then bring the mixture to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. 4. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. 5. Pour the jam into a sterilised jar and use within two weeks.…

KEEP ON TRACK PER SERVING Fat 23g Carbs 10g Protein 37g AVOCADO & SEAFOOD SALAD WITH MUSTARD CREAM DRESSING SERVES 6 • ½ cup white wine • 1 cup homemade fish stock • 500g prawns, peeled and heads removed • 3 crayfish tails, shell removed FOR THE DRESSING • 2 tbsp grain mustard • ½ cup cream, lightly whipped • grated zest of ½ lemon • himalayan salt and black pepper • extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle FOR THE SALAD • 3 avocados • juice of ½ lemon • 200g smoked trout, thinly sliced • 60g radishes, thinly sliced • 40g watercress • lemon wedges, to serve 1. Place the wine and stock in a large shallow pan and bring to a simmer. Add the prawns and crayfish tails,…

KEEP ON TRACK PER SERVING Fat 55g Carbs 2g Protein 30g CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN WINGS WITH BLUE CHEESE SAUCE SERVES 6 • 12 chicken wings • himalayan salt and black pepper • 1¼ cups desiccated coconut • ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese • 5g flat-leaf parsley, chopped • ¼ tsp smoked paprika • 2 eggs • coconut oil, for deep-frying FOR THE SAUCE • 120g blue cheese, crumbled • 1/3 cup mayonnaise • ½ cup double cream yoghurt • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1. Season the chicken wings well. Mix the coconut, parmesan cheese, parsley and smoked paprika together in a bowl and season well. Place the eggs in another bowl and beat lightly. 2. Dip each wing first into the egg, then into the coconut and cheese…

VESTED INTERESTS According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo sponsored 95 health organisations in the US between 2011 and 2015. The problem is that these organisations feel indebted, and less likely to oppose the soda companies. For instance, the association behind Project HELP accepts money from Coca-Cola – and when NY mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed to limit soda portion size, the association fought it. The conclusion? Organisations should find other revenue sources ‘to stop inadvertently increasing soda consumption and causing substantial harm’. Just ginger Looking for an alternative to those sugar- and caffeine-laden drinks? If you can take a bit of a kick, freshly chopped ginger in hot water is a good one. And it’s pretty good for you, to boot. As you probably…

IF you suffer from one or more of the following – fatigue, stubborn weight, belly fat, insomnia or brain fog – then you might need to pay attention to your body’s stress response system or HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. Your stress response is governed by the interaction between the hypothalamus and pituitary and adrenal glands. Stress causes the release of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that prepare your body for flight or fight. While this response to stress is protective in the short term, the longer the stress response stays activated, the more damaging it is to your health. This chronic stress response is called adrenal fatigue (or HPA axis dysregulation), and the varied physiological changes that accompany it can include obesity, high blood sugar and insulin resistance. The problem is,…

‘Our story starts in January 2015. My husband and I were talking about our health, and particularly that of our son, Andrew, who was 11 at the time. In just one year he had picked up a lot of weight. His schoolwork hadn’t slipped, but it was a constant struggle and he was showing signs of anger and frustration. He wasn’t our kind, funny little boy any more. We talked about restricting sweets and soft drinks, which we thought was a good idea. He was eating plenty of veggies and three “balanced” meals a day, but he seemed to be going backwards. I started researching health and food and the effects food can have on your emotional state. I came across a video called Lard Makes You Lean and had…

When I first started feeding my dogs real food, I was in for a surprise. I’d heard all sorts of stories about the dangers of feeding raw meat to dogs – from worm infestations to heightened aggression and worse. But since switching to pure, raw food five years ago, nothing like this has happened at all. Instead, they no longer smell ‘doggy’ or have ‘smoker’s teeth’, they are calmer, slimmer, their coats shine and they have sweet-smelling breath! There are also no fleas, so clearly fleas prefer dogs that eat pellets as opposed to real food. How would you like to live on one source of dried food for the rest of your life? Dog pellets are really the canine equivalent of processed food and don’t remotely resemble what dogs…

KEEP ON TRACK PER SERVING Fat 54g Carbs 7g Protein 46g CHILLI & GARLIC DEBONED LEG OF LAMB SERVES 6 • 1.5kg deboned leg of lamb FOR THE MARINADE • 4 large red or green mild chillies, chopped • 3 cloves garlic • 10g fresh marjoram • 5g fresh rosemary • 2 tbsp cider vinegar • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil • himalayan salt and black pepper TO SERVE • 50g basil pesto • 30g pomegranate rubies • grilled sweet peppers 1. Place the lamb in a dish. 2. For the marinade: Blitz the chillies, garlic and herbs together in a blender, then stir in the vinegar and olive oil and season well. 3. Spread the mixture over the lamb and allow to stand for 1 hour, or overnight…

Calling all readers: Submit your favourite LCHF recipes to info@loseit.co.za – they could be featured in the next issue! KEEP ON TRACK PER SERVING Fat 48g Carbs 13g Protein 10g GERALDINE DE BILLOT’S LOW-CARB CHOC MOUSSE SERVES 6 • 2 cups cream • 300g 80% dark chocolate, broken into small pieces • 3 eggs, separated • 3–4 tbsp xylitol • himalayan salt • cocoa powder, for dusting • fresh mint, to garnish 1. Heat 1 cup cream to boiling point. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted. 2. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, then beat in the xylitol and leave to cool. 3. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. 4. Beat the remaining cream with…

KEEP ON TRACK PER SERVING Fat 15g Carbs 6g Protein 5g RASPBERRY SLICES MAKES 24 FOR THE FILLING • 200g raspberries • 3 tbsp xylitol • juice of ½ lemon FOR THE BASE • 100g butter • 2 eggs • 80g xylitol • 130g almond flour • 2 tbsp coconut flour FOR THE TOPPING • 1 egg • 10g xylitol • 70g desiccated coconut • 1 tsp coconut flour 1. For the filling: Place the raspberries, xylitol, lemon juice and 3 tbsp water in a small pot. Gently mash the raspberries with a fork, bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 2. For the base: Preheat the oven to 160ºC and line the base and sides of a 20 x…

THE POWER OF THREE BY DALE PINNOCK (Pan Macmillan SA) Medicinal chef Dale Pinnock has created a revolutionary guide that advocates a change of lifestyle, rather than a diet. His nutritional information revolves around three principles: blood sugar balance, fatty acid balance and nutrient density. He discusses in easy terms how glucose circulation in the blood needs to be kept at low levels, how omega-6 fatty acids are linked to disease and inflammation, and how maximal nutrient density can be achieved through simple strategies such as eating fresh produce – consuming the rainbow at every meal – and eating whole foods. He’s also put together 80 simple yet effective dishes with plenty of snacks, side dishes and desserts to satisfy every palate. His take on nutrition is similar to that…