EP35 - Questioning Convention, a first hand account of the Noakes Trial - with Marika Sboros.

Throughout human history, from Galileo to Einstein, those with vision and the ability to look beyond dogma have come under fire from their peers and those who stand to lose credibility in the wake of new discoveries. It takes a committed and brave individual to stand up and admit that conventional wisdom may in fact be flawed. In 2014, Professor Tim Noakes was reported to the Health Professional’s Council of South Africa for giving unconventional dietary advice on a social media platform. He was advocating a natural whole food diet… in a tweet.  Most South Africans especially those with even a remote interest in health know of Professor Noakes. He is after all a household name in the world of sport and nutrition. I have often wondered had the hearing never taken place, would the HFLC protocol have gained infamy? Although the trial was a personal and professional blow at the time, it did serve to shine a spotlight into many areas in the health and academic arena that would otherwise have remained behind closed doors. The hearing quite literally transformed the way the public understand diet and nutrition and made an already famous scientist infamous and garnered him world wide support that he may never otherwise have been afforded. In this episode I chat with journalist Marika Sboros co-author with Professor Tim Noakes of Lore Of Nutrition, Challenging Conventional Dietary Beliefs published by Penguin in 2017.  Marika started her career as a hard-news reporter on the Rand Daily Mail in the 1970s, criminal trials, politics and religion. She later became a  features and investigative writer on women's issue and health. Marika worked for The Star newspaper and the Business Day, where she edited a weekly publication called  Health News for eight years. She is also founder and editor of the Foodmed.net website. Marika gives a fascinating first person account of the hearing, including her opinions on academic bullying.  For more gory details about the trial and the characters who payed a part in attempting to discredit one of the greatest minds of our time the book is available everywhere. Find it on online at Amazon and Takealot I am hoping that if you get anything from this discussion, it would be to always question. Be open to new discoveries and if the advice you have been given isn’t working, change your strategy. I hope you enjoy. 

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general information purposes only and does replace medical advice or other professional health care services. The guests interviewed on this podcast are in no way connected to Re-Invent Health and are free to express their opinions based on their professional discretion. The use of information on this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The subject matter is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.