Public fed a 'diet of deceit'

LazyLion

LazyLion

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http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/10/31/public-fed-a-diet-of-deceit

The public has been fed lies about nutrition for more than 36 years, University of Cape Town Professor Tim Noakes said yesterday, claiming that most nutritional advice today was "anecdotal".

Speaking at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Noakes thanked his audience - most of whom had a medical background - for a chance to defend "myself as a scientist".

In news reports last week, Noakes was himself accused - by UCT colleagues and several academics - of bad science, and making claims based on anecdotes rather than clinical trials.

The storm followed an opinion piece by Noakes that was published in the South African Medical Journal.

It was filled with stories of sick or diabetic patients who had become healthy and lost weight after adhering to a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.

Academics accused him of using these stories to promote his ideas in the style of an "evangelist" rather than a medical professional who used clinical trials and data to provide the best advice.

One, UCT academic Jacques Rousseau, said Noakes was encouraging a cult-like devotion to a high-fat diet that no long-term data has shown to be safe.

But Noakes said yesterday that the current dietary guidelines have been in place since 1977 and these were not supported by scientific evidence either.

The wisdom of a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is also "anecdotal", he said.

Noakes said the guidelines were developed by the US Department of Agriculture while it was promoting the maize industry. He said that, soon after the guidelines were published, obesity levels in the US increased.

"Why was the US Department of Agriculture writing health guidelines?" he asked.

Noakes said there are 150 trials defending the high-fat diet for people who are diabetic, overweight or suffer heart problems.

People at risk of diabetes should avoid bread, pasta and rice, says Noakes.

Johannesburg doctor Gail Ashford, who specialises in HIV, defended Noakes.

"It is easier for doctors to dismiss the man, than to actually engage the content. It's very inconvenient to engage with the material.

"It will change the way we practise medicine," she said.

A book by Noakes and three other people, called Real Meal Revolution, is due to be launched on November 20.
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I'm actually inclined to agree with this guy on this point. Look at how 'scientists' have flip-flopped over the health benefits of certain types of foods.
All things in moderation was a good adage to live by.
 
Well if it is having positive results for people then they should do proper studies.
 
Korn1 said:
Well if it is having positive results for people then they should do proper studies.
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Er, they have, and are. Just search PubMed, hence why he can cite scientific evidence to back up his claims.

We've been discussing the science of this diet in the weight loss thread for some time now. The science is sound...
 
I'm going with Noakes on this one.

Of course the sugar/carb producers are going to throw a hissy fit :D
 
Carbs were "discovered" very soon after the first hungry teenager came to be :D


Those things are hollow from the ankles upwards and go through a kitchen like grasshoppers on a spree :D
 
ShaunSA said:
Of course the sugar/carb producers are going to throw a hissy fit :D
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The amount of lobbying going on in the US by the industries that deal with sugar is insane.


In any case, I doubt Noakes is bringing anything new to the table now. This is just the local chapter of what has been practiced in a lot of places for a while now.

And obviously the "controversy" won't hinder book sales :rolleyes:
 
I'm not referring to Noakes's science. Hence why I referred to pubmed...
 
Personally I'm inclined to listen to the vast majority of the medical community rather than to one scientist.

If there's all this evidence that a high fat diet is healthier, why doesn't the rest of the medical community agree with Noakes?
 
Humberto said:
Personally I'm inclined to listen to the vast majority of the medical community rather than to one scientist.

If there's all this evidence that a high fat diet is healthier, why doesn't the rest of the medical community agree with Noakes?
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Ego (and probably the threat of lawsuits) doesn't allow them to admit they've been wrong for years.
 
Why is it that, when the majority of doctors and medical scientists study through the literature on nutrition, which includes the literature that Noakes relies upon for his theories, they do not reach the same conclusion as Noakes?

Are all these other doctors and medical scientists just stupid?
 
Sinbad said:
Ego (and probably the threat of lawsuits) doesn't allow them to admit they've been wrong for years.
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Lawsuits from where?

Why isn't this a problem in other areas where the medical community changes its thinking on an issue?
 
Humberto said:
Lawsuits from where?

Why isn't this a problem in other areas where the medical community changes its thinking on an issue?
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From the thousands of people in the USA who have been put on radical low fat diets by their doctors, causing much suffering and hardship.
 
Conspiracy theories don't help much to bolster the credibility of a new idea.
 
The lawsuit-trigger-happy nature of your average american is a conspiracy theory?
 
Sinbad said:
The lawsuit-trigger-happy nature of your average american is a conspiracy theory?
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I highly doubt that a doctor could be sued for recommending a low fat diet if such diet were subsequently found to be less healthful than a high fat diet, any more than Tim Noakes could be sued in the current diet paradigm for recommending a high fat diet when such diet is widely seen as being unhealthful.

I usually become sceptical when proponents of a radically different paradigm invoke conspiracy theories (e.g. that the maize industry is behind the low fat diet paradigm and that doctors are keeping quiet because they're simply too embarrassed to admit they've been wrong all along).
 
For everyone doubting, this diet does work... My mother works for one of Noakes colleagues in Zim and runs a dieting clinic based on his ideas. Having seen the data myself it really really does work, our whole family is on this diet I've lost 5kg, my mom 8kg and my dad 20kg... The greatest weight loss is a formerly morbidly obese woman (who has been so for 15 years) who has lost 55kg in the last 8 months.
 
Humberto said:
I highly doubt that a doctor could be sued for recommending a low fat diet if such diet were subsequently found to be less healthful than a high fat diet, any more than Tim Noakes could be sued in the current diet paradigm for recommending a high fat diet when such diet is widely seen as being unhealthful.

I usually become sceptical when proponents of a radically different paradigm invoke conspiracy theories (e.g. that the maize industry is behind the low fat diet paradigm and that doctors are keeping quiet because they're simply too embarrassed to admit they've been wrong all along).
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There is a lot of evidence to support the conspiracy. The food pyramid was originally drawn up by the United States Department of Agriculture.

These are the top 20 farmed products in the USA according to Wikipedia in 2003
1. Corn 256,900,000
2. Cattle meat 11,736,000
3. Cow's milk, whole, fresh 78,155,000
4. Chicken meat 15,006,000
5. Soybeans 65,800,000
6. Pig meat 8,574,000
7. Wheat 63,590,000
8. Cotton lint 3,968,000
9. Hen eggs 5,141,000
10. Turkey meat 2,584,000
11. Tomatoes 12,275,000
12. Potatoes 20,820,000
13. Grapes 6,126,000
14. Oranges 10,473,000
15. Rice, paddy 9,034,000
16. Apples 4,242,000
17. Sorghum 10,446,000
18. Lettuce 4,490,000
19. Cottonseed 6,073,000
20. Sugar beets 27,760,000

I've highlighted items over 20 million tons.

So, do you think a department that looks after agriculture that is so heavily biased towards carb type products is going to recommend anything else? :p If the USDA said "stop eating wheat, it's bad for you" what would the wheat farmers do?
 
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