South African academic Tim Noakes has enjoyed record book sales for his advice on the #Banting diet in the Real Meal Revolution – and with good reason. Many who have followed his eating suggestions have lost huge amounts of weight and feel better. Tales abound of people seeing cholesterol levels drop off. Noakes has attracted a strong following on the basis of word of mouth from people who have tried his meal plans and successfully trimmed their waistlines. But there’s a strong anti-Noakes camp, with some in the scientific community cautioning that the diet is not appropriate and could even be a bad idea for some. In particular, Noakes is facing ire among his detractors for communicating with his followers on the social media. A tweet to a young woman who is breastfeeding was the straw that broke the camel’s back for former president of the Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Claire Julsing-Strydom. She lodged a complaint against him for what she regarded as inappropriate conduct with the Health Professions Council of SA. Tim Noakes is fighting for his reputation among dieticians and others in the field of nutrition. Whatever the outcome, his many followers are unlikely to waver because they have discovered first-hand the many benefits of a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. – Jackie Cameron
By Tammy Petersen
Cape Town – Professor Tim Noakes’ lawyer has dismissed claims by the Health Professions Council of SA that the banting advocate was using his conduct hearing to get media attention.
“That is outrageous,” Michael van der Nest SC said during Monday’s proceedings.
“He did not ask to be prosecuted or to be under a cloud since 2014. He disagreed with dieticians and for that they thought he be must be prosecuted. Don’t be surprised if he puts up a fight.”
An upbeat Noakes listened intently during arguments on whether two of the three international experts he wanted to call to testify in his defence should be allowed to do so.
Last month, his lawyer informed the HPCSA that it would be adding the two witnesses, to which the HPSCA’s advocate Ajay Bhoopchand objected.
He argued that they had been added to proceedings too late, and questioned the relevance of their testimony.
Read also: Tim Noakes on evolution and real food that builds bigger brains
One of them, Dr Zoe Harcombe from London, is a diet and health researcher. According to her website she is an author, blogger and public speaker. She advocates not eating processed foods, or fats and carbohydrates at the same meal, and is knowledgeable about public health dietary guidelines.
The second, Nina Teicholz from New York, is an investigative journalist. She is the author of The Big Fat Surprise, which “explains the politics, personalities, and history of how we came to believe that dietary fat is bad for health”.
Unconventional advice
Bhoopchand questioned the bearing their testimony would have on the charge Noakes is facing: Of giving unconventional advice to a breastfeeding mother by advising her to wean her child onto a low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet.
Noakes promotes a LCHF diet in his The Real Meal Revolution. He was called before the council after the former president of the Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Claire Julsing-Strydom, lodged a complaint against him.
The complaint was prompted by a tweet Noakes sent to a Pippa Leenstra after she asked him for advice on feeding babies and on breastfeeding.
Her tweet read: “@ProfTimNoakes @SalCreed is LCHF eating ok for breastfeeding mums? Worried about all the dairy + cauliflower = wind for babies?? [sic]”
@ProfTimNoakes @SalCreed is LCHF eating ok for breastfeeding mums? Worried about all the dairy + cauliflower = wind for babies??
— Pippa J Styling (@PippaLeenstra) February 3, 2014
Noakes advised her to wean her child onto LCHF foods, which he described as “real” foods.
His tweet read: “Baby doesn’t eat the dairy and cauliflower. Just very healthy high fat breast milk. Key is to ween [sic] baby onto LCHF.”
Noakes argued during the hearing that his advice was anything but unconventional. He quoted research from as far back as the 1800s, before the boom in obesity rates.
Bhoopchand said Noakes was using the hearing for media attention.
“We plead with this committee not to allow that to happen any further,” he said.
Needs fair opportunity to argue his case
He said Teicholz, was not an expert and had written her book as a layman.
“It would be an enormous task to check the veracity of anything said in the book. What expertise does this expert have that is going to assist the committee in coming to a decision on the charge against the respondent?”
Van der Nest countered that the HPCSA was objecting to the weight of their evidence, not the relevance. He said he would bet money that the council had not even read the book. He insisted Noakes should be given a fair opportunity to argue his case.
In addition to Harcombe and Teicholz, Noakes wanted to call on UCT graduate Dr Caryn Zinn, a dietitian and nutritionist from New Zealand, to testify.
According to Noakes, Zinn had been advocating a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet for the past three years and had faced complaints from the Dietitians Board in New Zealand and the Dietitians Association of Australia.
The hearing is expected to continue until next Wednesday. – News24
Source: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/noakes-not-using-hearing-to-get-media-attention-advocate-20161017
No social media guidelines for health practitioners exist – Noakes
Cape Town – Professor Tim Noakes has never received social media guidelines from the Health Professions Council of SA, he said on Monday.
To his knowledge, no HPCSA social media rules exist, the banting advocate told a hearing into his conduct.
Noakes – whose book The Real Meal Revolution promotes a low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diet – was charged with giving unconventional medical advice via Twitter after he advised a breastfeeding mother to wean her baby onto LCHF two years ago.
The complaint was prompted by a tweet Noakes sent to a Pippa Leenstra, after she asked him for advice on feeding babies and on breastfeeding.
Read also: Tim Noakes ‘trial’: why it really isn’t about Twitter
Her tweet read: “@ProfTimNoakes @SalCreed is LCHF eating ok for breastfeeding mums? Worried about all the dairy + cauliflower = wind for babies?? [sic]”
Motivation
Noakes advised her to wean her child onto LCHF foods, which he described as “real” foods.
His tweet read: “Baby doesn’t eat the dairy and cauliflower. Just very healthy high fat breast milk. Key is to ween [sic] baby onto LCHF.”
He has almost 77 500 followers on the social network, on which he regularly shares articles and research supporting the banting diet.
Earlier in the hearing, which started in 2015, witnesses for the HPCSA said a consultation was required before any advice could be given or diagnosis made.
Former president of the Association for Dietetics in SA, Claire Julsing-Strydom, brought the complaint.
Noakes questioned why Leenstra, who ostensibly could have suffered harm, did not lay the charge. He argued he did not give advice on breastfeeding, but on weaning.
Noakes alleged that Julsing-Strydom’s complaint was not centred on breastfeeding, but on the diet he advocates in his book, of which she did not approve.
Read also: 10 reasons to love or loathe Tim Noakes and Banting
The HPCSA argues that Noakes gave unconventional and unscientific advice, and was unprofessional in his conduct for dispensing the advice via social media.
Earlier, chairperson Joan Adams allowed Noakes to introduce two international witnesses to testify in his defence, despite objections about their relevance and the timing of their inclusion.
Dr Zoe Harcombe, from London, is a diet and health researcher. According to her website she is an author, blogger, and public speaker, with proficiency in public health dietary guidelines.
Nina Teicholz, from New York, is an investigative journalist. She is the author of The Big Fat Surprise, which “explains the politics, personalities, and history of how we came to believe that dietary fat is bad for health”.
Adams ruled that the objection to their inclusion in the hearing be dismissed.
“This is a serious charge, serious enough to warrant a prosecution from the council. To date it has cost millions of rand and has drawn serious media attention,” she said.
“There are serious consequences for the complainant and the respondent.”
She said Noakes had a constitutional right and was entitled to call witnesses or lead evidence to assist him to conduct his defence.
The hearing continues on Tuesday. – News24
Source: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/no-social-media-guidelines-for-health-practitioners-exist-noakes-20161017
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