Our new title, Real Meal Revolution Banting 2.0, launching in December 2016, brings a fresh understanding to LCHF science for real people seeking awesome health. Banting 2.0 includes re-engineered Real Lists that offer a new guide to the foods you can eat on your Banting journey.
Deciding what foods you can eat, and when, is not as simple as “1-2-3”, green-orange-red, which is why the lists have blossomed into rainbow shades from green to “really” red. In this article, we explain how we have developed Banting 2.0 in order to build healthy habits and create a lifestyle that is both accessible and unique to everyone’s needs. In a sister article: A comprehensive analysis of the new official Banting 2.0 Real Lists, you can read more about how different food items came to be on different lists.
The wisdom of the crowds
We took to heart excellent advice from Prof Noakes that we are sure you have all heard: “The future of nutritional knowledge lies not in the power of the anointed, but in the wisdom of the crowd.” He expanded on this theme during his hearing, showing how he uses Twitter to gather and review new science pushing forward our boundaries of knowledge, and how the online community gets to challenge tightly held beliefs. This new evidence and knowledge from RMR’s own crowd-community was fundamental in the creation of Banting 2.0.
Our Vast and Informed following
Since the publication of the Real Meal Revolution in 2013, we have gathered tons of data and have tracked the meals and weight of more than 7,000 members through our tracking tools.
The graph below gives an idea of the data we analysed. This is a graph of 1,200 RMR members that Prof Noakes helped us interpret in August this year to identify and understand patterns of weight loss. You can also check out The Noakes Foundation’s talk on Diet Doctor where RMR’s slides were included in a presentation at the Low Carb USA conference held earlier this year.
The Noakes Foundation has since set off to forge a new future independent of RMR and therefore felt it best for Prof not to endorse our new book. However, Jonno’s blog article here and Prof’s tweets illustrate the strength of our ongoing relationship.
More Valuable Insights and Testimonials Supporting Banting 2.0
The wisdom of the crowds truly lies in the feedback we get from our member forums and the thousands of personal emails we receive daily. From our community, we have learnt so much. Such as, why women generally struggle to lose weight compared to men; how “aggressive” Banting from the outset may produce a variety of undesirable side effects; why many people reach a plateau, while others lose the desire to snack (and end up occasionally fasting); how people with different eating preferences, or allergies, are finding innovative ways to modify theirdiet to suit their lifestyle.
The Knowledge Generator of Banting 2.0
In order to make sense of all this information, RMR has built a knowledge curation structure that continues to evolve: We have over 2,000 forum members and more than 200 Certified Banting Coaches. This community comprises doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, psychologists, psychiatrists, professional life coaches, chefs and many others whose opinions we highly regard.
We also follow, and gain insight from, the leading scientists and thinkers in the Bant-o-sphere. Aside from Prof Noakes these include the likes of: William Davis, Andreas Eenfeldt, Alessio Fasano, Gary Fettke, David Gillespie, Jason Fung, Zoe Harcombe, Robert Lustig, Aseem Malhotra, Ted Naiman, David Perlmutter, Stephen Phinney, Mark Sisson, Gary Taubes, Nina Teicholz, Jeff Volek and Eric Westman, amongst many others.
Introducing the Phased Approach – Banting 2.0
Building on this knowledge, Real Meal Revolution CEO, Jonno Proudfoot, and the RMR team, developed the phased method to changing lives that would eventually take shape as Banting 2.0. This new approach was then tabled, discussed and finalised with a group of experts, including Bridget Surtees (Dietitian and co-author of RMR: Raising Superheroes with Prof Tim Noakes and Jonno Proudfoot) and Karen Hartzenberg (Medical doctor specialising in LCHF).
A journey towards the truth
None of the contributors to Banting 2.0 (the book and the lists) regard themselves as ‘anointed’ authorities mandating what, when or how you should eat. Rather, we feel we are curating the truth as we currently see it. We will continue to listen to our Banting community, to learn from the pioneers in the field worldwide, and to give feedback through our blogposts and our program updates. Herein lies the value we offer you on your journey to awesome, sustainable health.
The Low-Down on The Original Lists
The original lists were compiled using the underlying principles of LCHF. They followed one or two basic principles (with some nuances): the lower the carb count, the greener the food, and the higher the carb count the ‘redder’ the food.
The Real Lists for Each New Phase
The new Real Lists are not that dissimilar from the original lists. For example, green is still on the left and red on the right. Only now there are shades in between that offer solutions for every individual on their weight-loss journey.
What is most important is that the Banting 2.0 lists cannot be viewed as the entire diet. To understand how to use them, you will need to understand how each of our four newly-introduced phases works.
The key insight is the need for a transition between the old you (which you will have noted in the Observation phase) and the new you. We call this the Restoration phase because it is all about restoring your gut health and developing healthy habits.
Once ‘restored,’ you can now Bant more aggressively in the phase called Transformation. This is the return to the original ketogenic Banting.
Preservation allows those who have achieved their goals to sustain their success. This phase offers you more relaxed Banting rules with a focus on avoiding sugar and gluten while enjoying an awesome life.
We applied deep thought and consideration with a dose of common sense to a number of other food items that you may be curious about. For example, legumes are now on Orange B (previously Red). Some higher carb foods, like onions, have a special place on the Green list as they are widely used to enhance recipes and not eaten whole and in one sitting, like apples.
The lists might keep evolving, but what will always remain is our commitment to getting you to Awesome.
For a full breakdown of the new Real Lists, the changes and what theymean, see our other article called A comprehensive analysis of the new official Banting 2.0 Real Lists.
If you’d like to download the new lists, click here.
To order Banting 2.0 click here
