Prof. Tim Noakes

The Noakes Foundation

The Noakes Foundation is a Non-Profit Corporation founded for public benefit which aims to advance medical science's understanding of the benefits of a low-carb high-fat (LCHF) diet by providing evidence-based information on optimum nutrition that is free from commercial agenda.

Research Focus of The Noakes Foundation.

How do we correct the dietary errors of the past fifty years?
How do we determine the optimal diet for individuals?
How do we change individual eating and exercise patterns to prevent type 2 diabetes & minimise the effects of insulin resistance?
How can we help everyone eat better to feel better and live better lives?

From catastrophe to complexity: a novel model of integrative central neural regulation of effort and fatigue during exercise in humans: summary and conclusions.

T D Noakes, A St Clair Gibson, E V Lambert

It is hypothesised that physical activity is controlled by a central governor in the brain and that the human body functions as a complex system during exercise.

PubMed Link.

Believing that "carbohydrates are crucial for performance."

I started my medical training in 1969. In 1970 I did physiology, and throughout my training I was much more interested in sports medicine than in conventional medicine.

Sports nutrition, was about carbohydrates, because they increased your glycogen and you run faster. That's what I knew. The most recent edition of "Lore of Running" – 2002 edition – says carbohydrates are crucial for performance and for good health. For 33 years I believed that and followed it.

Something more to the story that I don't understand. (Extracted from a podcast interview)

When I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, I knew what was in store for me. I had watched my father die of this disease. I told my wife Marilyn, that I'd probably be dead in six years. I had sleep apnoea, type II diabetes, abnormal heart rhythms, gout and high blood pressure. The outlook was poor.

Then there was an email. The Subject line read,"Lose 6 kilograms in 6 weeks without hunger." And I said, "That's garbage. You've got to have hunger."

Then I noticed the names. Phinney, Volek and Westman. They were three scientists who I really respected, because I knew they'd done some really good research. Then I looked at the title and it read, "The New Atkins for the New You."

I thought, "How can these guys be associated with Atkins, who tried to kill us by putting us on high-fat diets?" I said, "There's something more to the story that I don't understand." So I bought the book. The research was good, and I reversed my thinking about carbohydrates.

Hence, I changed my diet, and within a week I couldn't believe the changes in me. Within six weeks my running had improved, like going back 20 years – I mean, from 61 to 41. For me that was amazing. I lost 20kg that year.

I just came across this much better way of eating for me. As an insulin-resistant human being, I discovered carbohydrates are very harmful to my health, and in fact caused me to get Type 2 diabetes.

What I've discovered in my life is that now I'm eating so little carbohydrate I have no desire to eat that food. I believe that I'm below the addictive threshold. Now, that's a concept that I've only developed in the last few months.

What I've discovered in my life is that now I'm eating so little carbohydrate I have no desire to eat that food. I believe that I'm below the addictive threshold. Now, that's a concept that I've only developed in the last few months. For me if I keep my carbohydrate intake below 25gm a day, there is no craving to eat any of the "forbidden foods" but if I stray to 50gm a day by making an exception, very soon the addiction is back and I'm wanting to eat food I know are off the menu. The beauty of the Banting Diet is that it's so simple. There are some foods you can't eat. Nil, None, Never, no bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, biscuits, cake. That's clear and simple.

You can eat lots of meat with the fat, plus organ meats, and dairy food, and eggs. Butter is a good fat. You can eat lots of non-starchy vegetables, and a few berries like raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Noakes Accused of "unprofessional conduct"

Health Professions Council of SA investigated Noakes for "unprofessional conduct". ADSA (Association for Dietetics in SA) president Claire Julsing Strydom laid the charge against Noakes  in February 2014.

The Association for Dietetics in SA (ADSA), reported Noakes to the Council for a single tweet, advising a mother to wean her baby onto meat and veg.

Early in 2016 this complaint finally got to court. The hearing went on for 15 days, during which Tim Noakes spent five and a half days answering his critics. The courts findings are not yet available, but The Noakes Foundation Blog is making edited highlights of Dr Noakes's presentation in court available. Here are the introductory remarks. In this first in court submission Tim Noakes explains why this is a personal issue for him.

The case was resolved in 2017. The adjudicator of the court in South Africa will found Noakes had been professional, and that on each of ten counts he had no case to answer. Exactly as the Swedish Experts Committee found, in dealing with Dr. Annika Dahlqvist. However it is interesting. It reinforces Stephen Phinney's experience about how his peers responded when his own research produced the "wrong answers."

It also helps us understand why the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, have never been seriously challenged for 30 years. The risk to one's professional standing is too great.

Registered Dietitians in New Zealand

Dietitians in New Zealand are professionally pledged to practice; "in a manner that protects and supports the health and wellbeing of the New Zealand public and is supportive of the Ministry of Health Food and Nutrition Guidelines, whilst also upholding the integrity of the profession.

I believe that the current guidelines are faulty in many ways. I expect that until the Americans change their guidelines, the N.Z. Guidelines will not be changed. We may have to wait another ten years for that to happen.

I can comment because I'm not a dietician, and I'm not pledged to uphold that obligation.

Meanwhile people in the dietary profession, who disagree with the Guidelines, tiptoe the around subject, so they will not upset their colleagues.

The Trial of Prof. Timothy Noakes

Prof. Tim Noakes Accused of "unprofessional conduct."
The Health Professions Council of South Africa is investigating Prof. Tim Noakes for "unprofessional conduct". ADSA (Association for Dietetics in SA) president Claire Julsing Strydom laid the charge against Noakes  in February 2014.

Open Future Health followed the trial closely.  There are fourteen URL's perhaps as many as 70 printed pages of detail available here. Best for a wide screen, maybe a tablet, but not suitable for a phone (far too many images).