Professor Tim Noakes said his eyes were opened the day his own health failed.<\/p>\n
“It is the day I saw the truth,” said Noakes, speaking at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on the topic, “Reversing the greatest blunder in the history of medicine. Can South Africa lead the way?”<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Noakes told a gathering at the Graduate School of Business auditorium at the Westville campus that scientists had misled the public by telling them to eat a high carbohydrate diet. His health had also suffered as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have failed our people, because we haven\u2019t recognised insulin resistance is the real problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reasons scientists made a drastic error is because we thought heart diseases were caused by high cholesterol and they are not. Cholesterol is caused by insulin resistance,\u201d said Noakes.<\/p>\n
Noakes, who promotes the Banting Diet – a low-carbohydrate high-fat lifestyle – said the diet required three things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe say, eat real food, limit the carbohydrates and learn how to cook.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said a high carbohydrate diet led to diseases like diabetes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour cats are diabetic and obese because you are feeding them carbohydrates and they are carnivores. There is an outbreak at the moment of diabetes in cats.<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch shows these are the most insulin resistant animals and if you treat insulin resistant animals with carbohydrates, they will get fat and die. The reason your cat and I am diabetic is because we both eat too much carbohydrates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noakes said he made the decision to start banting on December 12 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the day I decided I am never eating another carbohydrate in my life again\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we are dying from diseases our predecessors were not dying from. The reason is nutrition. They had incredibly good nutrition until they were introduced to the industrial diet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said uncontrolled hunger led to obesity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key to obesity is when you don\u2019t understand hunger, you can\u2019t get rid of your hunger. Obesity is all about hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n
He encouraged parents to buy the correct foods for their children.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the addictive foods that have high sugar that cause obesity. If you want to prevent obesity and diabetes, you need to get rid of your hunger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to address the environment that allows for these products to be sold to your children. We need to wean them off the high sugar drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained insulin was a fat-building hormone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look in the mirror and see a roll on your tummy, that is the insulin roll. Insulin promotes fat storage.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said if your diet does not remove your hunger, then you would never lose weight.<\/p>\n
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