Absorbing read of drama, intrigue in challenging ‘conventional wisdom’

LORE OF NUTRITION Tim Noakes and Maria Sboros Loot.co.za (R242) Penguin

A-rated scientist fighting for his credibility and beliefs. Heady stuff, indeed

REVIEWER JULIAN RICHFIELD

“MY message to you, dear reader, is that all people are entitled to their own opinions.

“But not to their own set of facts. So do not believe what you want to believe. Believe what the facts tell you is the truth. For in the context of junk diets, embedded scientists, corrupt – or simply ignorant – doctors and dieticians, human health and omertas, what you believe about your personal nutrition will determine not just how you live, but also how you die.” – Tim Noakes

Seven years ago, Professor Tim Noakes was introduced to a way of eating that was contrary to everything he had been taught and was accepted as conventional nutrition “wisdom”.

Having observed the benefits of the low-carb, high-fat lifestyle firsthand, and after thorough and intensive research, Noakes enthusiastically revealed his findings to the South African public two years later.

The backlash from his colleagues in the medical establishment was as swift as it was brutal, and culminated in a misconduct inquiry launched by the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

At the subsequent hearing, Noakes was found not guilty of unprofessional conduct. Lore of Nutrition explains the science behind the low-carb, high-fat/Banting diet and why he champions this lifestyle. Coming as it does in the aftermath of that extraordinary hearing, the book also deals at length with what Noakes calls “a medical and scientific code of silence that discourages anyone in the medical profession from challenging the current dietary guidelines”.

The backstory to the HPCSA hearing is provided by the publisher and editor of Foodmet.net, Marika Sboros, who attended every session. The book’s coverage of the hearing is so full of drama that its storyline would not feel out of place were it the product of creative fiction writing.

Understandably, the stress of the HPCSA had a shattering emotional impact on Noakes: “The results of my personal choice would prove to be brutal for myself, my wife, and the rest of our family, beyond anything I could possibly have imagined… In retrospect, embarking on this journey was not something my family and I did lightly.

“We certainly did not choose it. But once our enemies threw down the gauntlet in the most public way they did, my wife and I were not going to go quietly in the night… If ever there was an illustration of the lesson in unintended consequences, the case against me is the classic example.”

As a mechanism to demolish Noakes’s views and to silence him, it backfired spectacularly.

With plenty of nutritional science and human drama and intrigue, Lore of Nutrition is a totally absorbing read.

It is not the first time Noakes has challenged conventional scientific thinking. He did so previously in his book Waterlogged. What makes his latest book so compelling is Noakes’s honesty and courage.

Apart from the valuable new thinking about nutrition, the book’s broader appeal will be its telling of an A-rated scientist fighting for his credibility and beliefs.

Heady stuff, indeed.