Tim Noakes has again hit back at critics of his new diet and says the dietary debate is raging not only here in South Africa but globally.
He said the low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet was highly recommended in a number of countries, including Sweden.
Noakes, head of the Sports Science Institute of SA, has been challenged by doctors and academics for suggesting that a high-fat and protein diet is advisable for everyone. They also said his advice might be dangerous for anyone with or at risk of heart problems.
His advice is contained in an updated edition of his book, Challenging Beliefs, which contains an abrupt turnaround on his previous views towards carbo-loading, instead promoting a high-protein, high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet.
In response to letters carried IOL’s sister publications the Cape Times and The Mercury, Noakes said the different response to this “controversy” in other countries was interesting.
In 2006 Sweden had been forced to deal with the “controversy” after a medical practitioner lost her job because she prescribed the low-carb, high-fat diet to patients with obesity and diabetes.
After a review, the Swedish National Board of Health and Wellness ruled that recommendations of low-carbohydrate diets for patients with obesity and diabetes were in compliance with science and proven experience in weight reduction in overweight people, Noakes said.
Nearly 25 percent of Swedish citizens were following the diet.
“Early evidence suggests that the incidence of obesity in that country has peaked and may even be in retreat.”
Noakes said: “My questions are the following:
* Does the condition of carbohydrate-resistance (CR) (carbohydrate-intolerance) really exist?
* If so, is there a body of published scientific evidence showing that patients with CR improve their risk profiles on a particular diet, either high carbohydrate or high fat?
* Does the condition of metabolic syndrome (obesity, high blood pressure and abnormal blood fat measurements) really exist?
* If so, is there published scientific evidence that patients with the metabolic syndrome improve their risk profiles on any particular diet, either high-carbohydrate or high-fat?
“These are the questions that in my opinion need to be answered if we are ever to understand how to prevent the current epidemic of obesity and adult-onset diabetes. My personal experiences described in Challenging Beliefs relate directly to these questions, not to the issues of diet and heart disease,” Noakes said.
He said the debate was not about the “Noakes diet” but low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet which had been around for some time. - The Mercury