Sweet and sour for Noakes
Nutritionist faces torrent of criticism but says new book will show who was right
BLUE SWEAT SHOES: Tim Noakes, preparing to face his critics this week CONTROVERSIAL author and nutritionist Tim Noakes has endured a barrage of criticism and a charge of unprofessional conduct for pushing a high-fat diet — and now he plans to hit back in a new book.
This week, as a Health Professions Council of South Africa hearing got under way, Noakes told the Sunday Times that he would address some of the criticisms against him in his next book, which is in the planning phase and will document his troubles over the past four years.
“I am going to ask the question ‘Who is right?’ because I have been criticised for being completely wrong,” he said.
Since publishing his bestselling book The Real Meal Revolution, in 2013, the personal attacks have kept coming. His “low point” was when his own department at the University of Cape Town put out a statement in the media distancing itself from his diet. “That did affect me and took me about four months to get over it,” he said.
But the blows are softened by his wife, Marilyn. “It is terrible when people attack me personally, but I have this fantastic wife who has been very supportive. If she at one minute had said she didn’t want to go through with this, I would have stopped.”
Noakes was hauled before the council this week after being accused by the Association for Dietetics in South Africa of unprofessional conduct.
He provided “unconventional advice on breast-fed babies on social networks” when he advised a mother on Twitter last year to wean her child on a lowcarb, high-fat diet. He has pleaded not guilty. Noakes’s legal team has taken on his case pro bono – several of them are committed Banters – and he is relying on Skype testimony TWO SUGARS OR ONE? Noakes consults his advocate, Ravin Ramdass from several overseas experts to help him fight his case after most locals declined to testify on his behalf.
He has a theory as to why this is the case. “They run a risk of being hauled before the HPCSA for giving unconventional advice. Why would you want to expose yourself? If your whole career is dependent on a particular dietary guideline, why would you want to step out of line?” he said.
Noakes’s defence team is expected to call international experts including Dr Caryn Zinn, a dietitian from New Zealand, and Dr Stephen Cunnane, a human metabolic physiologist, who will give evidence via Skype.
This week his legal team pushed witnesses about how TO DIET FOR: A supermarket-supply company provided Banting snacks at the hearing most dietary and nutrition studies are funded by big cereal and sugar companies.
“It’s endemic throughout the world that Big Sugar controls dietetics,” Noakes said. “Once there is buy-in it’s difficult to pull out.”
He uses the example of why he has used Nike running shoes since 1978. “I was given a pair of running shoes and I thought I was God. It’s completely ingrained. If you are given something you always pay back.”
But despite criticism against him, Noakes maintains he is the “luckiest doctor in the world”.
“Because every day people say ‘Thank you, Dr Noakes’ on Twitter. People tweet before and after pictures. This is what doctors are there for — to change people’s lives.”
Noakes said it was “fabulous” to see the Banting phenomenon growing, especially with small businesses creating Bantingfriendly products. Bantingfriendly snacks — including waffles, bread and brownies — were served during the hearing this week, made by a company called French Confectionery, which supplies Spar and Checkers.
Banting has also caught on in poorer communities, such as Ocean View and Delft in Cape Town. Euodia Samson, who is running the campaign in these communities, said the results had been miraculous, with one
Every day people say ’Thank you, Dr Noakes’ on Twitter It’s endemic throughout the world that Big Sugar controls dietetics
person losing 10kg in six weeks.
“Some of these women are taking 30 tablets a day. Two to three weeks into Banting they have taken themselves off medication,” said Samson. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za