Tim Noakes in his own words: why I choose to go on ‘trial’

University of Cape Town emeritus professor Tim Noakes could easily have made the hearing before the Health Professions Council of SA in November go away. All he had to do was deregister as a medical doctor, and the Council would no longer have had jurisdiction over him. Noakes, a medical doctor, and scientist rated A-1 by the National Research Foundation, is no longer involved in the practice of medicine. By deregistering, he would also have made things easy for the Association of Dietetics for SA (ADSA), and its president, Johannesburg dietitian Claire Strydom, who reported him for a single tweet saying low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) foods (meat and veg) are good first weaning foods for babies. ADSA and Strydom have come under a barrage of criticism and ridicule globally for the action against Noakes. They stand accused of being proxies for Big Food companies that make fortunes out of high-carb, low-fat foods, and the medical establishment that considers Noakes a danger to the public for his ‘unconventional views’ .

In his distinguished scientific career spanning four decades, Noakes has put forward ‘unconventional views’ seven times, and been proved right six times. The seventh will be tested at the HPCSA hearing on a charge of ‘breaching ethical rules’. Here, in his own words, Noakes explains why he chooses to go through what has become known as the ‘Banting for babies trial’. He intends to expose a  ‘monumental error’, possibly the ‘greatest error in the history of medicine’ committed by the medical and dietetic professions, one that has already had demonstrably serious consequences for national and global health: the promotion and imposition on the public of flawed, unscientific, and ultimately deadly, dietary advice. It’s a long read, but an important one for all those interested in their own, and anyone else’s, health. – Marika Sboros

Read Tims story here and why he feels this "trial" is of monumental importance to people all over the world.

Eddie