CATEGORY: diets/lowcarb
TECHNICAL: *
SUMMARY:
This document was written by an individual who was on
another health/training list that I was a part of back in 1996.
In this note, he describes (in detail) one of the earliest low-carb
diets ever recorded, "the banting diet". The author does a really
good job documenting the chronology of everything, and even
discusses his own successes using the approach at the end. As you
read through it, you will find suggested diet plans for the banting
approach. Though I agree with low-carb diets in general, I would
make the case that this is not an optimal approach. In my view,
paleo-lowcarb is the only way to go. I will discuss that in the
future as well as provide my exact diet for everyone's scrutiny.

-------------------------------------------------------------

A few days ago I discovered this group while "surfing" and
contributed an opinion in the "Dr. Atkins vs the World" thread.
Basically, it pointed out that Dr. Atkins was a johnny-come-lately in the
low-carbohydrate scheme of things. The low-carbohydrate diet seems to
have originated with "A Letter of Corpulence", published in London in
1864 by a man named William Banting. It was so popular in the U.K. that
one may still find in the Oxford English Dictionary the verb "to bant" as
well as "banting" and "bantingism". My copy of the Oxford English
Dictionary quotes an editor's response to a correspondent:

Pall Mall Gazette - 12 June 1865

"If he is....gouty, obese, and nervous, we strongly recommend him to
bant."

So the low-carbohydrate way of eating predates calorie counting as a
method of weight control, though it does not predate the earlier method,
STARVATION, - poor ol' Henry VIII!

There is a low-carbohydrate diet which works as swiftly as any
proposed by Dr. Atkins, which does not involve placing a human being into
artificial starvation, with the throwing off of ketones, and resultant
straining of the kidneys.

If you want to throw away those ketostix, or use them as coffee stirrers,
read on.

Dr. William D. Howe was a well-known medical doctor and a member of
the Canadian parliament in Ottawa, representing the riding of
Hamilton-South for the NDP (Socialist) party. In March of 1965 a column
was written in "The Ottawa Journal" mentioning that fact that many
formerly obese members of parliament were looking slim- and-trim these
days, thanks to a method of weight control devised by Dr. Howe, and the
diet was given. This casual mention brought a flood of mail. In two
months Dr. Howe had mailed out 1500 copies, the Ottawa Journal's files
had been stripped of clippings, and the national radio (C.B.C.) had done
a 15 minute report on it. On Monday, May 3, 1965 and Tuesday, May 4th,
the Ottawa Journal reprinted the diet along with a number of articles
concerning it. Since I have the clippings (and would never part with
them) I am excerpting the relevant material here:

<<OPEN QUOTE - Ottawa Journal, May 3, 1965>>

You May Eat:
Meat, even fat meat
Milk and cream
Fish, cheese and eggs
Butter and margarine
Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage, spinach
Stem vegetables such as asparagus, celery, broccoli
Coffee & tea with cream and saccharin/sweetener

You Must Eat:
Vitamin C - 100 mg daily in unsweetened tablet form
(inexpensive at drug store).
Some form of vegetable oil such as corn, taken straight
or splashed on salads. (1 tbsp)

You Must not Eat:
Bread
Any dessert
Seed vegetables such as peas & beans
Root vegetables such as beets, parsnips, turnips, potatoes
Or anything containing sugar, starch, or flour.

Dr. Howe: "In 2 months I cut from 220 to 172 and trimmed my waist 11
inches"

Murdo Martin (NDP MP for Timmins): "Down I came in 10 weeks from 268 to
227, with 7 inches and 7 notches off my belt line."

Eric Winkler (Conservative MP): "I pared down from 226 pounds to 193 in
6 weeks."

It is important to realize with this diet that quantity is not the,
or even a factor. The diet eliminates almost all carbohydrates, which
most of us eat in large proportions. Carbohydrates come in the form of
sugar, starch and flour.

The logic of this diet is that our bodies are unable to use surplus
carbohydrates and therefore they are converted to fat and stored --
usually around the waist.

We lose the fat and the fat only, while building up muscle, blood
and other tissues with no loss of energy, no failure of drive or a
lessening of zest for living.

The diet is self limiting -- when the fat is gone, you stop losing
weight and remain constant at your natural and correct level.

"I tell you", says Martin enthusiastically, "this diet works.
What's more, you feel like a million bucks on it - lots of energy, drive
to burn - and you don't go around, as on most diets, feeling like a
grizzly bear."

"I swear on it," says Mr. Winkler with conviction, "this diet does
it, not only painlessly but pleasantly. The only fault I found with it,
I went down so fast I couldn't get my suits taken in quickly enough to
match the belt-line

Dr. Howe's "Eat & Drink Up Diet" is so short, so simple, some people
suspect there must be more to it.

There really isn't.

It's all there under 3 headings:
You May Eat
You Must Eat
You Must Not Eat

It covers broadly all foods.

<<CLOSED QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 3, 1965>>

The following day, responding to requests for suggested menus, the
following was published:

<<OPEN QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 4, 1965>>

Breakfast:
Tomato Juice, liquid or jellied consomme, sauerkraut juice or avocado.
Bacon or ham and eggs, all you can eat. Coffee, tea or milk.

Lunch:
Martini or Scotch & water, etc. *if desired*. Any cold meat: Beef, ham,
turkey, lamb, chicken, pork, salami, bologna, veal, tongue, liver, lean
or fat it doesn't matter. Salad with an oil & vinegar dressing or blue
cheese (*not* Thousand Island Dressing). Lettuce, cress, parsley, green
& red peppers, shredded cabbage, kale, dandelion greens, tomatoes,
asparagus... (any leafy vegetable).

Dinner:
Shrimp or lobster cocktail. Avocado or tomato stuffed with fish or fowl.
Any soup, including cream soups, so long as no rice, barley or macaroni.
Any stem or leafy vegetable - asparagus, brussels sprouts, cabbage,
cauliflower, celery, collards, endive, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, parsley,
peppers, sauerkraut, spinach, squash, tomatoes, turnip/beet greens.
Cheese of any kind. *Sugarless* ice cream, sherbets or gelatins. Coffee
or tea with cream. Milk.

Dr. Howe emphasizes that this diet is for healthy people only. You
don't have to stint, but don't go overboard either. Eat & drink enough
for comfort and health, but no more. "If you're healthy, you won't
anyway" says Dr. Howe.

Dr. Howe stresses that if a person is under medical or psychiatric
care, the diet is for his own personal physician and not Dr. Howe to
prescribe.

Dr. Howe's "Eat & Drink Up Diet" has been criticized by some as
having something of a resemblance to one which has been published in
California as "The Drinking Man's Diet", and this has been criticized as
a diet which will leave you fat and drunk. Dr. Howe points out that the
Drinking Man's Diet permits fruit and even seed vegetables. Dr. Howe
rules these out as being too heavily loaded with fat making
carbohydrates.

<<CLOSED QUOTE - The Ottawa Journal, May 4, 1965>>

Notes: Dr. Howe allows one to have a can of cream soup, or tomato
soup, when desired, so long as they contain NO rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.
There is some carbohydrate in these soups, but nowhere near enough to
sabotage the diet.

You may use unsugared strawberries in desserts.

You may use sugar-free soda pop.

Milk has 12 gms. of carbohydrate per glass - scientifically speaking.
Almost none of these carbohydrate are usuable by the vast majority of
humans as they are in the form of lactose, milk sugar, which very few
people can metabolize well, if at all. Hence, drink up.

Try not to use a lot of yogurt, or acidophilus milk, or any dairy
product which has been treated with a bacteria which breaks lactose down
into a "digestible" form. Yogurt is not off the menu, just don't eat more
than a cup a day or so. Sour cream is not a problem, as it is made from
full- fat cream and thus is low in lactose to begin with.

Do NOT use "Calorie-wise" dressings, or anything labelled "light".
Use full-fat dressings such as Ranch, Blue Cheese, Caesar, etc. Look on
the bottle, if they have a carbohydrate count of 1 gm/serving. or less,
use with abandon. If you do so, you will have fulfilled your oil
requirement in the "You Must Eat" category.

Whisky and hard liquor are allowed. Dry red or white wine may be
taken with meals - be sure is has a sugar count of 3 or less (or says
"dry" or "very dry" on the label.

LASTLY: And MOST important. Do NOT mix apples and oranges so to
speak. Do NOT take a part of this diet and a part of that diet. Low-
carbohydrate diets are not as "forgiving" as low-calorie diets. Do THIS
diet or DON'T do it. Don't mix and match, it is too confusing. If you
follow this diet you will lose a pound a day or so, if you add a chocolate
bar, a bran muffin, or a potato to the menu ALL THOSE FAT GRAMS become
AVAILABLE to the body for metabolization. One slip can ruin your whole
day. It isn't worth it: nothing tastes as good as thin feels.

My Personal Story:

In 1965 I was 17. I was 323 lbs. of misery. 6'1". I was so
desperate to lose weight and "fit in" that I used to take the bus to the
last stop on the line and try to walk the 10 or 15 miles back to my home.
I was never able to make it. I had been told, without solicitation, that
I should "turn the fat into muscle by exercise" by a wafer-thin cousin...

On Saturday, May 1st, 1965 I read on the front page of the newspaper
that "Dr. Howe's Diet" would be reprinted on Monday. When I read the diet
it seemed to be doable. The first week I lost an impressive amount of
weight (I don't remember exactly how much). By October I remember that I
was down 100 pounds.

It took about 5 or 6 months until I finally hit 190 lbs., largely
because my social life had improved to the point where I was "out with the
gang" instead of watching television. A teenager eats frenchfries,
burgers and pizza when in company, even in 1965.

31 years later I am still at 190 lbs. Once one has been overweight,
it is a lifelong struggle, no matter WHICH diet one chooses. I have
gained as much as 30 lbs. back before dieting. I have done Weight
Watchers and bought the Susan Powter tapes. I did this largely because I
was constantly told by thin friends (some of whom have since passed on)
that a high-fat, low-carb diet was dangerous.

I am the healthiest person I know.

No diet is suitable for all people. If you think you'd like to try this
diet, go to it!

P.S.: As far as desserts go... try a Bavarian Cream using an
envelope of sugar-free gelatine, made and removed from the refrigerator
when partially set. Mix in a cup of cream which has been whipped
separately and sweetened with Sweet & Low. Return to refrigerator until
fully set. Each it all in one sitting if you like. Yum! Orange Jello
Bavarian is my favourite.

Or, how about baking an egg custard? Use artificial sweetener and
chill. Cover with freshly whipped cream if liked. Use full-fat milk for
the custard, I find cream too cloying.

:cool: TJ :cool: