Banting Diet Food List
The Banting diet food list provides you with 3 comprehensive lists of Banting foods that we can & cannot eat for improved health & weight management.
The Banting Green list of foods is the one most people are interested in as these are the foods that you can basically eat as much as you like of or until you’re full without the risk of weight gain.
To make it easier to distinguish between good, bad & moderately good foods, the Banting diet food list has been divided up into 3 distinct food lists.
The Banting Diet Food List Includes the Green, Orange & Red Lists
- Banting Green List All the food types that you can basically eat until you’re satisfied with little danger of weight gain.
- Banting Orange List Foods that are neither especially good for you nor particularly bad for you. In other words they are borderline Banting friendly so they can be eaten in moderation but it’s also good to avoid to them. If you have to eat foods on this list you should exercise restraint & restrict the amount you eat.
- Banting Red List Foods that should be totally avoided. These are foods that are bad for your health & are highly likely to cause weight gain to the point of obesity if your diet is based on them.
The Complete Banting Diet Food List
Green List
Red List
Orange List
- Meat – Beef, pork, lamb, veal, rabbit, goat, sheep, bison, wild boar & game
- Eggs (Chicken eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs & quail eggs)
- Fish – Salmon, tuna, trout, bass, sole, haddock, cod, mackerel, anchovy, herring.
- Offal
- Natural cured meats & sausages (parma ham, chorizo, salami)
- Poultry – Chicken, turkey, duck
- Seafood (avoid those with a high mercury content)
- Broths
Fruit & Vegetables (Organic)
- Green leafy vegetables
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Aubergines
- Avocados
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Courgettes
- Leeks
- Mushrooms
- Olives
- Onions
- Peppers
- Pumpkin
- Sauerkraut
- Seaweeds
- Spring onions
- Tomatoes
- Watercress
- Generally any vegetable that is grown above the ground (so potatoes are not included)
Root Vegetables
- Beets
- Turnips
- Radishes
- Jerusalem artichokes
Healthy Fats
- Avocados
- Avocado oil
- Animal fats
- Butter & cheese (organic)
- Coconut oil
- Duck fat
- Veal fat
- Lamb fat
- Fatty fish (including salmon)
- Coconut milk.
- Ghee
- Lard
- Macadamia oil
- Olive oil
Nuts & Seeds
- Almonds
- Flax seeds
- Macadamia nuts
- Pecan nuts
- Pine nuts
- Pumpkin seeds
- Sunflower seeds
- Walnuts
Herbs
- Parsley
- Thyme
- Lavender
- Mint
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Chives
- Tarragon
- Oregano
- Sage
- Dill
- Bay leaves
- Coriander.
Sweeteners
Healthy “Gut”Food (Fertilizers)
- Bone broth
- Sauerkraut
- Yoghurt
- Kefir
- Fermented pickles
Drinks
Condiments
- Vinegar & other flavourings as long as they are sugar-free, gluten-free & do not contain vegetable oil or preservatives
- Fermented soy sauce
- Grain based fours
- Bread
- Grains – wheat, barley, oats (rolled oats are generally fine), rye, quinoa
- Breakfast cereals, muesli & brans
- Couscous
- All confectionery – cakes and sweets
- Honey
- Fructose
- Malt
- Sugar
- Sweets
- Syrup
- Cordials
- Rice
- Pasta
- Potatoes
- Soya
Beverages
- Beer & cider
- Sodas & fizzy drinks
- Diet drinks
- Fruit juice (high sugar content)
- Energy drinks
- Commercial fruit juices & iced teas
Fats & Oils
- Vegetable oils containing high concentrations of omega 6 fatty acids
- All seed oils (sunflower, canola, grape seed, corn etc)
- Sauces (eg, tomato) & salad dressings & mayonnaise
- Hydrogenated oils found in margarine & vegetable oils
- Sunflower oil
- Saf flower oil
Meat
- Grain-fed meat, factory farmed meat (grass-fed is preferable)
- All processed meats
Vegetables High In Carbohydrate
- White potatoes (sweet potatoes are preferable)
- Peas
- Peanuts (they are legumes and not actually nuts)
- Legumes
- Parsnips
Other Foods To Avoid
- All fast food
- All processed food & refined food products
- Foods with added sugar
- Sweeteners
- So called “Fat Free”products as they usually contain high amounts of sugar
- Puddings, ice cream, coffee creamers
- Soy milk, rice milk, condensed milk
- Dried fruit, bananas (high sugar content)
- Any GMO product or anything containing gluten (wheat, barley, rye, couscous etc.)
- Beetroot
- Berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries)
- Butternut (Pumpkin is fine )
- Calabash
- Carrots
- Casava
- Chickpeas
- Corn on the cob, mielies
- Parsnips
- Peas
- Squash
- Sweet potatoes
Dairy
- Milk (full cream)
- Yogurt – full cream Greek (be wary of low-fat options as they normally contain loads of sugar)
- Cheeses
- Cottage cheese
- Cream
Fruits
- Apples
- Bananas
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Cherries (sweet)
- Clementines
- Figs
- Gooseberries
- Grapes (green)
- Guavas
- Kiwi fruits
- Litchis
- Mangos, sliced,
- Nectarines
- Oranges
- Pawpaw
- Peaches
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Plums
- Pomegranate
- Prickly pears
- Quinces
- Raspberries
- Strawberries
- Watermelon
Nuts
Sweeteners
To sum it up, the table below gives you a snapshot of basically what you can & cannot eat according to the Banting diet food list.
Eat
Don’t Eat
- Meat & poultry – Grass-fed, free-range
- Fish
- Dairy (in moderation)
- Eggs
- Fresh fruits & vegetables on the green list
- Water & herbal teas
- Nuts & seeds (in moderation)
- Healthy fats
- All sugars & anything containing sugar
- All simple carbs (including pasta, bread, potatoes etc.)
- Cereals, grains & anything containing gluten
- Processed foods including processed meats & sausages
- Vegetable oils, margarine & butter spreads
- Commercial sweeteners & coffee creamers
In conclusion, if you can discipline yourself to eating only foods on the green list of this Banting diet food list & totally avoiding those on the red list you should be able to eat your meals until you are satisfied without having to restrict your portions.
In other words it’s difficult to overeat if you eat to hunger.
- This is because eating wholesome, non-addictive foods almost always leave you feeling full & satiated without craving more.
- On the other hand eating addictive foods from the red list of the Banting diet list of foods, will hardly ever leave you satisfied & you’ll almost always want more causing weight gain & poor health.
- As far as the orange list goes, eat foods from this list in moderation & be aware that you may have to restrict yourself from eating too much of these food types.
