Banting on Trial: Noakes lines up witnesses as HPCSA case gathers momentum

The hearing against Professor Tim Noakes will continue today after he was charged with unprofessional conduct following a complaint to the Health Professions Council of SA.

Published on:

24 Nov 2015, 4:57 am

By Lizeka Tandwa, News24
Cape Town – The hearing against Professor Tim Noakes will continue today after he was charged with unprofessional conduct following a complaint to the Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA).

Earlier this year Noakes, in a message posted on Twitter, advised a mother to wean her child onto low carbohydrate, high fat foods – commonly abbreviated as LCHF.

Prof Tim Noakes. Picture: Courtesy of the Noakes Family Foundation

She said that one Australian dietitian had been expelled because she prescribed a low carb diet for diabetes.

Noakes said Zinn, who had studied at UCT, "converted by herself".

"She has not found anything wrong [with the diet] and her patients haven't died because of it – they have only become more healthy. That is part of the reason she is here."

The hearing is a very important event in the history of nutrition in SA, Noakes insisted.

"I don't have to be here. I don't practice medicine. I gave it up 15 years ago. But I believe that South Africans have to hear the truth. I have incurred enormous costs, but I believe so strongly that this message needs to get out. That's why I am here."

"I have been waiting years for this case. It's not just about me and giving unconventional evidence and advice. It's about why are South Africans so unhealthy? Why are we getting more obese and [why are more people being diagnosed with] diabetes?" – News24