Using diet and lifestyle, especially in a group setting, to treat obesity and diabetes, is a real thing as shown in the study published in the South African Medical Journal in August 2016.
Recently, a collection of Canadian and South African doctors (including Noakes) studied the effects of diet and lifestyle on groups of individuals in rural Canada all wanting to lose weight or to manage their insulin resistance without medication.
The study showed the Low Carb (Keto or Banting) diet to be effective in treating obesity and diabetes, especially when done in a group environment. “Lifestyle interventions (LIs) can treat metabolic syndrome and reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in high-risk individuals. These findings highlight the importance of group support in achieving therapeutic goals.”
All participants lost weight, showed great improvements to their blood triglyceride concentrations, and vast improvements to their moods, especially in those who showed tendencies towards depression. Most of them were also able to go off of their medication or decrease it, which included insulin and cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The group and lifestyle approach also allowed for better management of ailments such as hyperglycaemia, hypertension, and dyslipidaemias.
The importance of group support for weight loss, and achieving therapeutic goals is not a new discovery.
Group Support Trumps Individual Care.
Studies done in the 1980s first indicated the benefits of this approach to weight loss. More recently in 2011 the same thing was established, “A randomised controlled trial found that group treatment induced a significantly larger initial weight loss than individual care.”
“Group sessions, appear to provide patients the support and motivation needed to continue to practice weight control behaviours which include regularly monitoring body weight, food intake, and physical activity.” Reported the 2011 study.
In the same study, goal setting, self-monitoring, and stimulus control were all said to be important when it comes to weight loss.
We include all of the above in our group model. Each of our groups is run by a certified coach, who is also a Banting / Keto success story who draws on their own experiences as a successful Banter, and our carefully developed tools and research, to help their group members reach their health and weight loss goals.
According to the 2011 study, it’s important to set measurable goals, and weekly check-ins with a group makes you more accountable to achieving those goals. “Patients often report that they appreciate the accountability that results from this check-in.”
The study also found that those who tracked their food and weight loss had the best results and recording food also helped the individuals to identify their poor eating habits. Our specially designed meal and weight tracking software make it much easier for individuals to monitor their progress and eating habits.
In the Canada study it was reported that: “This intervention was a powerful wellness tool, empowering not only patients, and physicians but the rural communities, which can be burdened with a high prevalence of chronic disease.”
Obesity and diabetes have become massive pandemics, the Canada study is a positive step in providing practitioners with solid evidence that diet, lifestyle and a group environment can have a huge effect on reversing these diseases.
Banting and Keto can go a long way to improving health, happiness, and sustained weight loss.
To start your Banting journey today, check out our Hero Program
