Sandwich Baron offers a healthy Banting choice

Sandwich Baron, South Africa’s fastest growing sandwich franchise, has added a wide and delicious range of ‘Banting’ meals to its menu.

While Banting is a growing health trend, Sandwich Baron understands that people have different dietary requirements which is why they offer an extensive menu with healthy and hearty meals.

“Knowing there is a growing market for healthy options, and that everybody loves a decent sandwich, we had to bring out a Sandwich Baron Banting Bar. We made it convenient for everyone to enjoy an authentic Banting sandwich every now and again without having to cheat!” says Sally J’Arlette-Joy, founder of Sandwich Baron.

Sandwich Baron chose to develop a Banting menu recognising its health benefits – it is much more than a weight-reduction plan. It primarily addresses the modern scourge of diabetes. It is no flash in the pan, but is arguably the oldest eating plan first prescribed in 1861 by a Harley Street surgeon Mr William Harvey with great success to a corpulent London undertaker, Mr William Banting.

It has therefore been mainstream treatment for weight for more than 100 years, until displaced by the ‘high cholesterol’ eating plan of low-fat, high carbohydrate foods, which is today widely blamed for the global obesity epidemic. Banting is of course not only about more fat and fewer carbs, but talks to the trend that many people increasingly only want to put quality, natural food into their bodies, as they are still concerned about cholesterol.

 “Our Banting menu only uses the very best,” says J’Arlette-Joy. “We searched high and low for tasty Banting Diet bread and general recipes, tried many of them and selected our favourites,” says J’Arlette-Joy. These include a Banting Breakfast Box consisting of 2 boiled eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 cocktail pork sausages, 2 slices of tomato with garlic and herbs; as well as a Banting omelette filled with cheese, avocado, bacon and served with a side salad and a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. Sandwich Baron’s lunch time menu is equally popular and include Banting lunch boxes which contain chicken, eggs, avo and salad; or our popular Banting burgers, soup, chicken strips, salads and diet- friendly snacks.

Sandwich Baron has grown from one to 47 stores in two decades, with stores in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Western Cape, and is especially popular as breakfast and lunch meals for working folk and students alike.

“Since the introduction of healthy meal options at Sandwich Baron, I have lost 30kg over a period of 18 months. I’m surrounded by great food every day so if I can do it by sticking to healthier meal choices, you can do it too!” chuckles J’Arlette-Joy before sharing her top ten golden rules of Banting.

1. This is not a high protein diet - it's a high fat, high to medium protein and low-carbohydrate way of eating.

2. Contrary to the false and now discredited research of past decades, fat is not the enemy - sugar is. Always choose a high-fat option and enjoy the flavour.

3. Choose real foods, not processed, and cook them from scratch.

4. Eat enough so that you are no longer hungry - then stop. If you’re not hungry don’t force yourself to eat a meal.

5. A Banting meal will keep your energy levels high for longer. The idea of eating a high fat diet is that this way of eating makes your body switch from burning carbs for energy to burning fat, which is exactly what dieters want.

6. Don't snack in between – it’s just a habit.

7. Sugar Is an addiction, and can be broken quite easily by going ‘cold turkey’. If you need to transition, substitute it with Zylitol or other natural alternatives - not artificial sweeteners. Almost all foods contain sugar so check all purchases for nutritional value.

8. The hardest part is reducing fruit – the thing we used to consider healthy. They are natural, but you have to think of them as sweets rather than a health snack.

9. Pasta – when you see pasta, think of it as a handful of sugar. That’s what it does to your body – a quick high followed by a low, and hunger cravings.

10. If you’re unsure what to eat for lunch, simply order yourself a Banting meal from Sandwich Baron, which will conveniently be delivered for free to your desk.

“Sandwiches – Banting or traditional - have always been considered a staple meal, so I am confident that Sandwich Baron will continue to grow from strength to strength and will be around for many years to come,” concludes J’Arlette-Joy.