As far as diets go, South Africans have had quite the love affair with Noakes's ketogenic plan. We've embraced it with such gusto that astonishing numbers of eateries and grocery stores have answered the call and tracked down Banting-friendly stock or trained themselves in the complicated art of making carb-less versions of forbidden foods like breads and sweet treats. It's a pretty restrictive and specific diet, but the vast health claims and the kilograms flying off of its proponents have really grabbed South Africans' hearts. Also, the bacon. Oh, the bacon.
Is anyone even surprised that a diet prioritising meat is popular round here?
Well, now there's a new kid on the block, making some outrageous claims that tie quite nicely into the Atkins/Paleo/Banting paradigm - heavy on the animal protein, fats and full creams, but sniffing disapprovingly in the direction of grains and carbs.
In Secrets of the Diet Codes, ex-veterinarian Marius Theron unveils the Wolf Diet. The eating plan carries the undeniable, primitive appeal of this striking animal: a skilled hunter with exceptional senses and frighteningly powerful jaws, responsible for the hauntingly beautiful howl that epitomises the sound of the wild on a dark night. Ah-rooooooooo!
The Wolf Diet has a winning name for sure. Who doesn't want to be wolf-like if these are the associations? But which of us is prepared to eat the way a wolf eats - feasting just once a day? This is the key secret of this new diet - that instead of grazing all day, or eating three solid meals, we cultivate the will power to banish our cravings and indulge our taste buds only once every 24 hours.
No doubt there'll be some suffering. One must be pretty driven to go all day without a bite to eat. But in exchange for sacrificing breakfast and lunch, we get to splash out at dinner time with a lavish high protein, high fat meal.
The concept may seem outlandish, but fasting has been an important part of various cultural traditions since antiquity. In the health industry, it has had its proponents over the years and it also taps into the recent resurgence of interest in intermittent fasting.
However, it also garners considerable criticism, so before you go and restructure your entire life around one meal a day, check out the warnings for youngsters, pregnant women and anyone with health issues or a complicated relationship with food. And of course, any such drastic dietary change needs to assessed by your GP first. If you're given the all clear, you may just be able to figure out how to channel your inner wolf to help you achieve that most enviable lean, mean physique.
Date Published: 08 August 2017
