The Health Professions Council of SA (HPCSA) has warned that simply following a high-protein, high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet is not advisable.

The warning follows a recent debate surrounding Professor Tim Noakes and his apparent debunking of the theory that blood cholesterol and a high-fat diet were the causes of heart disease, and that this was a myth that would be one of the greatest errors in the history of medicine.

Noakes suggests that a switch to a high-fat and high-protein diet is advisable for everyone.

Not so, says the HPCSA.

Professor Edelweiss Wentzel-Viljoen, chairwoman of the Professional Board for Dietetics and Nutrition told the Argus:

Although low-carbohydrate diets containing less energy may have short-term beneficial effects on weight control and insulin resistance in some individuals, a healthy diet remains a balanced diet. A healthy diet remains one that is balanced in terms of carbohydrates, protein and fats as well as vitamins and minerals. The best way to reach a healthy balanced way of eating is to follow the South African Food Based Dietary Guidelines.

This included regular exercise, and consulting “a registered dietician or nutritionist who has the expertise to design a balanced healthy diet if they wanted to lose weight,” she continued.

Noakes said in response that this was an “interesting development,” and that “warning people against such diets [is] promoting obesity.”

This is the same organisation in Sweden that concluded that the diet of high protein, high fat and low carbohydrate diet was entirely safe and acceptable. At the moment the same diet is being used by at least 25 per cent of Swedes. By them [HPCSA] warning people against such diets they are promoting obesity and unhealthy people. Carbohydrates are the root causes of obesity.

Read the full HPCSA press release and warning here.

This article has some useful tips about the South African Food Based Dietary Guidelines for adults. The information contained in it was gathered from the Nutrition Information Centre of the University of Stellenbosch. Browse their website, here.

[Source: IOL]