The great big fat debate

It came as a surgical strike against fad diets that emphasise eating proteins and fats.

Promulgating slogans like "it's time to get our fats straight" and "the big fat truth", dieticians and academics yesterday warned that diets that excluded or radically reduced the intake of certain food groups were potentially dangerous to a person's health.

The event, held at the Good Food Studio in Sandton, was sponsored by Unilever, which manufactures margarine - the spread that is shunned by the Tim Noakes diet in favour of fat-rich butter.

Dr Louise van den Berg said scientific evidence could not be ignored in favour of simplistic strategies.

"The right balance [of food] is vital to health, and [a good diet] is more complicated than fat is bad," she said.

She said one in seven South Africans suffered from high cholesterol levels, and a high-fat diet could prove bad for their health in the long term.

Said Van den Berg: "People might lose weight in a high-fat diet, but what happens in 30 years' time?"

The main target of the talks was the Noakes or Banting diet, which promotes eating saturated fats, avoiding sugars and reducing carbohydrates.

Noakes's book, The Real Meal Revolution, has already sold more than 100000 copies in South Africa.

Unilever also used the opportunity to dispel myths about margarine, including that it was originally made to fatten up turkeys, and the claim that it is one molecule away from plastic.

Chef Wendy Croeser got the audience to make their own margarine from coconut oil, milk, egg yolk and lemon.

Dietician Claire Julsing Strydom said she had treated seven patients whose adherence to fad diets had led to health complications.

One patient had developed diverticulosis, or pouches that develop in the colon wall. It is a condition that can stem from a no-fibre diet. Another of Strydom's patients had reduced kidney function, and this Strydom believed was partly caused by following a high-protein diet.

Said Strydom: "A lot of dieticians are saying they are seeing more and more of this."

But she said one of the positives of the controversy surrounding Noakes's diet is that it has made South Africans more aware about the dangers of certain diets. She also emphasised the need for a balanced diet that incorporated a variety of foods.