Tim Noakes, Well Being Quiz

TO NOAKES OR NOT TO NOAKES?

By now most of you have heard of or bought Professor Tim Noakes book, The Real Meal Revolution.

He has created quite a stir with this and people are going a bit nutty to buy the book and follow the prescribed eating plan. Here’s is some insight from our Nutritionist, Helena Westwood:

 ”In essence, Professor Noakes’ eating plan is a LCHF (low carbohydrate, high fat) plan, it is not a high protein diet, but a moderate protein diet.  As a dietician, I do make sure that my patients can tolerate the high fat content and that they are good candidates to follow the eating plan.  Professor Noakes, talks about it working well for people with carbohydrate resistance or what we call insulin resistance. 

How do you know if you are carbohydrate resistant?  If you have gained weight around your tummy predominantly since your twenties then this could be a sign that your body is releasing more insulin than needed and then storing carbohydrates as body fat (insulin resistance). 

 There are five criteria that we measure to see if you are carbohydrate resistant.  If you have three of the five then you are diagnosed with insulin resistance, a risk factor for developing diabetes and the LCHF plan will work well for you.  These are the five:

·         In women if your waist circumference is >88cm and in men >102cm.

·         Blood pressure >135/85mmHg

·         Low HDL (good cholesterol)

·         High triglycerides (also part of the cholesterol test)

·         High fasting glucose (sugar).

To test for these, I would do a blood test, which is covered by your medical aid. I also add a blood test to make sure that your bad cholesterol (LDL) is not being damaged or oxidised and that your body will tolerate the high fat well.

In essence, above is what the LCHF plan looks like.  Lots of colourful veggies, with every meal as well as good fat which includes olive oil, avocado and good saturated fats.  You can get good saturated fat from Freshly Grown as the beef, chicken, pork etc. that is sourced from Braeside are all grass fed and does not contain added hormones.  This is also the case with the butter, cream and other dairy products as cows are also grass fed and are not given any types of hormones.

There are no sugar and carbohydrates; in the form of bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. allowed. Fruit is restricted to berries, three times a week based on your weight-loss.

In summary, if you want to embark on this way of eating, my recommendation would be to do the blood tests so you know if your body can handle this way of eating.  In addition, see a dietician or nutritionist that can guide you on the eating plan and track your weight and fat loss.”

From my experience people are to fixated on what the current “trend” is that will help them lose weight now, get bigger, stronger, faster now! A successful nutritional way of eating is a longer process of eating moderately, listening to your body, letting go of what the media feeds you as what an ideal body type is and not just 6 weeks of dieting, or buying some book. The more you yo yo around with different fads the more your weight will yo yo. This is not to say that what Tim Noakes is suggesting is a gimmick, there is science behind it however, I personally know that his DNA has been tested and it showed that his genetic makeup was conducive to eating like this but many other people will struggle to handle the increase in fats in their eating.

A very insightful TED talk can be seen here. This is by Sandra Aamodt, a Neuroscientist and science writer who uses her personal story to frame an important lesson about how our brains manage our bodies, as she explores the science behind why dieting not only doesn’t work, but is likely to do more harm than good. She suggests ideas for how to live a less diet-obsessed life, intuitively.

THE WELLBEING QUIZ

So, you’ve arrived at the gym, race or local park ready to start your session but are you really ready to train? Here is an insightful quick quiz that can help you access if you are ready to perform at optimal level or maybe you should take a rain cheque and rest. Thanks to Ian Craig for the information, more can be found on his website