Cape Town -
Tim Noakes, professor of exercise and head of the Sports Science Institute, launched South Africa’s first carbohydrate and sugar addiction programme at the Harmony Addictions Clinic in Hout Bay on Wednesday.
Noakes, warned that if South Africans continued to eat food that was high in carbohydrates and sugar, they exposed themselves to lifestyle conditions such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
While the brain was made of about 50 percent of fat tissue, Noakes said dietitians and other nutrition experts continued to advocate low-fat diets.
* Commenting on a statement made by the Health Profession’s Council of SA (HPCSA) last week, Noakes said the council didn’t seem to understand the basis of science and that dismissing a high-fat diet showed their ignorance of reputable scientific research.
“It’s quite acceptable for the HPCSA to say that there is a theory that high-protein diet may cause heart diseases, but it can’t prove it,” he said.
The council has warned against long-term adherence to a low-carb, high-fat diet.
Noakes sparked a debate when he apologised for having in the past advocated a high-carb and low-fat diet. He said many people, himself included, had the problem of insulin resistance, meaning they could not handle a diet high in carbohydrates. - Cape Argus