Table of contents for Vol 15 - 2016 in LOSE IT! The Handbook

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. NUTS ABOUT MAC-EDEN In our feature on Mac-Eden Nuts (LOSE IT! Volume 14) we incorrectly stated that their products were available in specific stores in KZN. Luckily for us all, we were wrong: Mac-Eden’s lovely products are ONLY available online – but can be delivered anywhere in South Africa. Even better! Go to www.macadamianuts.co.za. Please share your success…

POLISH OFF Did you know that a few hours after applying nail polish, one of the chemicals used as a plasticiser in most brands – triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) – can be picked up in your blood? That’s according to a small Duke University study done with the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Apparently, there’s an association between the chemical and changes in the hormone and reproductive systems of humans. What’s more, they think these chemicals could be making us fat. ‘The most recent studies suggest that TPHP interacts with a protein central to regulating the body’s metabolism and production of fat cells. Scientists are conducting more investigations to discover whether, in fact, TPHP contributes to weight gain and obesity.’ If you’re concerned about your favourite polish, enter its name into the…

10signs you’re short of MAGNESIUM • Headaches or migraines • Muscle cramps and/or pain • Brittle bones that break easily (osteoporosis) • Type 2 diabetes or poor glucose control • High blood pressure • Insomnia • Anxiety, panic attacks or depression • Constipation • Fatigue • Poor memory magnesium may be vital to our health, but most of us don’t get enough of it. Which is why acid reflux, adrenal fatigue, heart palpitations, angina, anxiety, high blood pressure, constipation, depression, type 2 diabetes, obesity, fibromyalgia and many other conditions linked to magnesium deficiency are so common. Our nervous system, bones, muscles, heart, brain and other organs all require magnesium to function well, and when they don’t get enough, they let us know about it. WHY ARE WE DEFICIENT? A normal…

• 200g coconut flour • 130g almond flour • 1½ tbsp baking powder • ½ tsp salt • 200g butter, cut into cubes • ¼ cup cream • 1 extra-large egg • 1 tbsp vanilla extract (optional) TO SERVE • 200g cheddar cheese, grated 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. 2. Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well to combine. 3. Add the butter cubes and rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. 4. Place the cream, egg and vanilla extract in a bowl and beat to combine. 5. Make a well in the centre of the flour and butter mixture and add enough of the cream mixture to form a soft but manageable dough (reserve a little of the cream mixture…

Talk to anyone new to banting and their first response is, ‘But what about my cholesterol?’ They seldom say, ‘It would be fantastic to lose weight without feeling hungry all the time’. This knee-jerk response is based on flawed research that dates back more than 50 years. We’ve been brainwashed to believe that fat in our diet causes our cholesterol to rise and that this cholesterol, like fat clogging drainpipes, then blocks our arteries and causes heart attacks. The large food and pharmaceutical companies latched onto this theory, and low-fat foods have dominated ever since. To compensate for the loss of taste resulting from the low-fat content, fat has been replaced by sugars and other additives. The diet and exercise industries also benefited from this theory, and millions of articles…

SEED AND PISTACHIO ‘BARK’ • 50g 80% dark chocolate • 4 tbsp mixed seeds • 50g pistachio nuts, chopped 1. Melt the chocolate and spread in a thin, even layer over a foil-lined baking tray. 2. Immediately scatter seeds and nuts over the top. Allow to cool. 3. Cut into pieces and serve. ROSEMARY AND CRISPY ONION ALMONDS • 1 tbsp coconut oil • ½ onion, finely chopped • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary • 200g raw almonds • himalayan salt and black pepper 1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion for about 10 minutes until golden and crispy. 2. Add the rosemary and almonds and fry for 2–3 minutes until the nuts are beginning to toast. 3. Drain on kitchen paper and season well…

When Gail van Niekerk tried the foods and recipes in Real Meal Revolution and successfully lost weight, she was excited to learn all she could about LCHF. ‘The science just added up,’ she says. At the time, banting was so new that it was difficult for people to access the ingredients, and they tended to be expensive. So Gail used her knowledge from previous work in the food industry to research the list of approved foods further – establishing how they were used, how they could be used differently, and what combinations worked well together. Eventually, Banting Blvd emerged as an online platform where banters could order basics like flours and seeds, as well as premixes for bread, rusks, treats and more. Gail and daughter Lizanne, the women behind the…

PEPPER FILLET WITH BÉARNAISE SAUCE SERVES 4 FOR THE BÉARNAISE SAUCE • ½ cup dry white wine • 4 spring onions, chopped • 10g flat-leaf parsley, chopped • 3 jumbo egg yolks • 200g butter, cubed • squeeze of lemon juice • himalayan salt and black pepper FOR THE FILLET • 1kg fillet steak • 2 tsp cracked black/pink peppercorns • flat-leaf parsley, to garnish • sweet potato mash, to serve 1. For the béarnaise sauce: Place the wine, onion and parsley in a small pot, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until liquid has reduced by two thirds. 2. Strain through a sieve into a small heatproof bowl and allow to cool. Add the egg yolks, whisk until light and fluffy, then place the bowl…

COCONUT SEED BALLS MAKES 15 • 1 cup desiccated coconut • 100g mixed seeds (linseeds, sunflower seeds etc) • 30g dried blueberries, finely chopped • 3 tbsp tahini, at room temperature • 1 tbsp xylitol syrup 1. Place the coconut, seeds and blueberries in a bowl and stir well to combine. 2. Add the tahini and xylitol and stir until mixture forms a sticky dough. Using your hands, roll the dough into 15 small, firm balls, each about the size of a radish. 3. To serve: Serve immediately or store in a cool dry place. FUDGY NUTTY CHOCOLATE ROUNDS MAKES 18 • 1 cup macadamia nut butter • 2 tbsp xylitol • 1/3 cup coconut oil • 100g 85% dark chocolate, chopped • pinch himalayan salt • 18 macadamia nut…

TASTY WASTENOTS BY SALLY-ANN CREED & JASON WHITEHEAD (Human & Rousseau) With seven billion (and counting) of us, we’re becoming more and more aware of the pressure on the planet to provide us with enough food. And (to bring it home to our own kitchens!) the rising cost of living means it’s necessary to eke out as much as we can from what we have available, and to stop chucking out perfectly good food (like bones left over from a Sunday roast). This is where nose-to-tail eating comes in. And who better to help us do this than Lose It’s in-house nutritionist, Sally-Ann Creed with expert cheffy know-how from Jason Whitehead? They take you through every meal and throw in a few extras, like how to start a veggie garden,…

Before banting… ‘In mid-December 2015, when I got on the scale at my doctor’s rooms, I got the shock of my life – I was 100kg! It was my routine six-monthly blood pressure and sugar check-up. (I was on chronic meds for blood pressure and on glucophage for type 2 diabetes.) My glucose intolerance tests were as high as 15.6 (mmol/L) and averaging in the upper eight’s, and my blood pressure was also high (every member of my immediate family suffers from this). I was always tired and sluggish – I had no energy and really had to push myself to get through the day. When I got home, I’d open a bottle of wine while getting supper ready for the family. That was when I was most happy –…

SINDI HAS LOST 41KG! ‘I’ve gone from a 46E-cup to a 44D, and my dress size has gone from a full-size 26 to a comfortable 24, and it’s still going down. I really need to get a new wardrobe!’ ‘IN early December 2014 I felt so ill I believed I was going to die and leave my kids without a mom, and the thought overwhelmed me. I knew something had to change, so I phoned my GP and asked his advice. At the time, I weighed 154kg and I was addicted to junk food. I’d have McDonald’s for breakfast and lunch and a McFlurry on the way home in the car. Oros was my Achilles heel. The first thing my GP said was: “You need to cut down on the…

‘I’m off my medication and I feel 10 years younger!’ Q: Did you try to lose weight before signing up for LOSE IT’s meal plan? A: After I turned 36, I put on kilo after kilo. I was a yo-yo dieter, losing weight then gaining it all back again. When I reached my fifties, I weighed as much as 89kg. I was in denial, as I’d been a very slim young adult and could eat anything and everything. My weight then was between 48 and 52kg, so I’d almost doubled in size. I developed all sorts of medical issues, primarily arthritis, ulcers, terrible back problems and gastric reflux. I also became quite depressed, partly due to an underactive thyroid. The excess weight caused a lot of discomfort and I was…

Q: What motivated you to bring out another low-carb book so soon after the first? A: A lot of people were interested in the recipes but they didn’t want to buy a book for diabetics, so I decided to bring out a low-carb cookbook anyone could use. I included a lot of new recipes I had developed and I created an action plan in this book – a step-by-step way to change to low carb one meal at a time – because I know that going low carb isn’t easy and it isn’t instant. As a family, it took us almost a year to be weaned off carbs completely. I passionately believe that it’s harmful to eat a high-carb diet, so I also included some research on things like the…

Calling all readers: Submit your favourite LCHF recipes to info@loseit.co.za – they could be featured in the next issue! DR SCHOONBEE’S GOLDEN FLAXSEED BREAD MAKES 1 LOAF • 2 cups golden flaxseeds • ½ cup sunflower seeds • ¼ cup psyllium husks • 8 large eggs • 1 cup buttermilk or amasi • 2 tbsp baking powder • pinch himalayan salt 1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. 2. Sprinkle a few whole flaxseeds and sunflower seeds in the base of an 11x34cm bread pan, or 2 smaller bread pans, and grind up the rest. 3. Combine the ground seeds with the remaining ingredients and pour into the bread pan(s). 4. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. TIP: If you have a coffee grinder, use…

What are the overall benefits of yoga? Yoga focuses on the body, mind and spirit – although, in the beginning, most people focus on the physical aspect. In bikram yoga, the room is heated and this causes you to sweat profusely, which is a great detox, and because you’re doing challenging poses while contending with the heat, its high-quality exercise that helps tone your muscles. Yoga is a workout that targets the whole body, strengthening each muscle group, opening all the joints, improving flexibility, as well as working with the organs. But you can’t just talk about yoga as a physical exercise. One reason the physical benefits are so profound is that you are working on your mindbody connection through relaxation techniques and mindful breathing. It’s an extraordinary tool for…

store cupboard 85% dark chocolate Almond flour Almonds, blanched, ground and raw Arrowroot powder Baking powder Bicarbonate of soda Black olives Black pepper Cacao powder Chia seeds Coconut cream Coconut flour Coconut milk Desiccated coconut Dried blueberries Dried shaved coconut Gelatine Macadamia nuts Nori Pistachio nuts Psyllium husks Pumpkin seeds Rosewater Sesame seeds Tinned bamboo shoots Tinned cherry tomatoes Tinned chopped tomatoes Tinned tomato paste Vanilla extract White wine (dry) Xylitol Xylitol syrup homemade stocks Chicken Beef fresh fruit, veg & herbs Apples, green Avocados Baby button mushrooms Baby gem lettuces Baby spinach Basil leaves Bay leaves Button mushrooms Cauliflower Celery Cherry tomatoes Chinese cabbage Chillies, green and red Chives Coconut – fresh Coriander Courgettes and zoodles Eggplants Flat-leaf parsley Garlic Ginger Kale Leeks Lemongrass Lemons Limes Micro green salad…

CRISPY CHICKEN STRIPS SERVES 4 FOR THE MARINADE • 1 cup homemade chicken stock • 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce (optional) • 2 tbsp xylitol syrup • 3 tbsp white vinegar • 10 chicken thigh fillets, sliced into strips FOR THE SAUCE • 1 tbsp coconut oil • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced • 3cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes • 2 tbsp xylitol • juice of ½ lime • himalayan salt and black pepper FOR THE COATING • 2 eggs • 30g coconut flour • 150g desiccated coconut • coconut oil, for deep frying • blanched baby pak choi and sliced chilli, to serve • sesame seeds, to sprinkle 1. For the marinade: Combine marinade ingredients in a bowl. Pour ¼ cup over…

HOW BODY FAT SCALES WORK A small, safe electric current, which moves more slowly through fat and more quickly through muscle, is sent through your body. Its relative speed enables the scale to calculate your body fat and muscle density, displayed as percentages. The technical term for this is bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). More expensive models offer extra features that make them easier to use. If you have internal medical devices or you’re pregnant, however, it’s not advisable to use a body fat scale. HOW TO USE THEM The accuracy of the BIA is affected by dehydration, medical conditions that affect water balance, recent exercise, whether you’ve eaten or taken a hot bath, and the stage of your menstrual cycle. To get a comparable analysis, try to measure yourself at…

This golden-brown seed is believed to have originated in Egypt, and might well be a superfood. Recent studies suggest eating it may reap a host of health benefits. Besides the nutritional value, research also indicates flaxseeds may reduce the risk of certain cancers such as breast, prostate and colon cancer, as well as heart and lung disease. Here’s why you should be eating them regularly: 1. They’re full of good fats. Flaxseeds are a potent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, which aid platelet function and benefit blood pressure (BP). They help reduce inflammation (which helps prevent arthritis), balance your hormones and prevent heart disease and diabetes. In animal studies, the plant omega-3 fatty acid found in flaxseeds – alphalinolenic acid (ALA) – inhibited the incidence and growth of tumours…

‘What kind of exercise is best for burning fat?’ Q: What kind of exercise is best for fat burning – longer duration steadystate exercise like road running or cycling, or high-intensity interval workouts that include heavy weights? A: Firstly, exercise does not lead to weight loss and fat burning. Having said that, in the world of paleo and LCHF, high-intensity interval training, aka HIIT, seems to be the exercise of choice. The shorter bursts of high-intensity exercise in HIIT (as seen in most CrossFit classes), where all the muscle groups are worked effectively, seems to make more sense than mindlessly doing the same exercise for hours on end at the gym, or running or cycling daily for long periods. And while HIIT doesn’t directly cause any fat burning or weight…

Dietary fat is a critically important element of a low-carb diet. We need it for energy, and it’s what makes us feel satisfied after meals. Eating a low-carb diet full of healthy fats also keeps insulin levels low, which enables the release of stored fat to be burned for fuel. The result? We slim down and feel full of energy. From a weightmanagement perspective, however, it does matter how much fat we eat, and what kind. CAN I EAT AS MUCH FAT AS I WANT? In his book, Keto Clarity, Jimmy Moore, states: ‘even though an LCHF diet facilitates fat loss by lowering the fat-storing hormone insulin, it doesn’t guarantee fat loss if you eat more fat than your body actually needs. Calories count, inasmuch as you shouldn’t eat beyond…

Q: My thyroid gland’s been removed and I’m on thyroid meds. I am also on metformin for insulin resistance. Do I need to do anything differently from people with normal thyroid function? A: You can follow the LCHF lifestyle without any adjustments initially, but I’d advise you to have your thyroid hormone levels checked after three months, as you might have to reduce the dose as you lose weight. Q: I’m five weeks’ pregnant and overweight. I believe eating low carb is fine for pregnant women, as long as we add some more of the right carbs. Could you give me more concrete guidelines as to how I should do this? I’m also worried about deficiencies when I change over – how can I make sure that doesn’t happen? A:…

SEATED TWIST Begin in a seated position, with your legs straight out in front of you, feet together. Bend your right knee and place your right foot on the floor on the outer side of your left thigh. Bend your left leg to the right until your left heel is in front of your right buttock. Turn your torso towards the right and place your right hand on the ground behind your buttock, keeping that arm straight. Place your left elbow in front of the outer side of your right knee and push against the knee slightly. Your left forearm should be extended with your fingers spread apart. Inhale, then exhale as you deepen the stretch by pushing lightly against your knee with your elbow. Repeat on the other side.…

SHAKSHUKA-STYLE SALAD SERVES 4 • 1 eggplant, sliced into rounds • himalayan salt • 3 tbsp coconut oil • black pepper • 4 plum tomatoes, sliced into wedges • ¼ tsp smoked paprika • 2 tsp ground cumin • 2 tsp tomato paste • 1 tbsp harissa paste • 10g fresh coriander, roughly chopped • 10g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling • 50g goat’s milk cheese, crumbled • 4 eggs, fried 1. Place the eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with salt and leave for 20 minutes. Wipe away the salt and moisture using kitchen paper. Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil in a pan and cook the eggplant rounds until golden. Season with pepper, remove from the pan and keep warm. 2. Add…

ASIAN-STYLE BREAKFAST PANCAKE SERVES 4 • ¼ cup ghee • 3 spring onions, finely sliced • 100g chinese cabbage, sliced • 1 x 230g tin bamboo shoots, drained and chopped • 1 red sweet pepper, finely diced • 1 tomato, chopped • 1 red or green chilli, chopped • 8 eggs • 2 tsp ground turmeric • himalayan salt and black pepper • extra chopped spring onion and vietnamese mint, to serve • 30g cashew nuts, toasted, to serve 1. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan, toss in the spring onion, cabbage, bamboo shoots and red pepper, cook until just softened, then remove from the heat. Add the tomato and chilli and set aside. 2. Whisk the eggs and turmeric together and season well. Heat ¼ of the remaining…

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…