Tim Noakes: Fat Myths, Reversing Diabetes & The Real Meal Revolution

Watch the full interview below or listen to the full episode on your iPhone HERE.
Guy: This week welcome to the show Tim Noakes. Prof Noakes was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1949. As a youngster, he had a keen interest in sport and attended Diocesan College in Cape Town. Following this, he studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and obtained an MBChB degree in 1974, an MD in 1981 and a DSc (Med) in Exercise Science in 2002.
In the early 90s, Noakes teamed up with Morné du Plessis to drive the founding of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA). The Institute was built to provide a facility that would primarily fund research in sports performance. The application of this research would provide sports personnel of all disciplines with the means to improve. Noakes and du Plessis also wanted to use it as a platform to build public interest in the country’s top sports people and build state pride.
Prof Noakes has published more than 750 scientific books and articles. He has been cited more than 16 000 times in scientific literature, has an H-index of 71 and has been rated an A1 scientist by the National Research Foundation of South Africa for a second 5-year term. He has won numerous awards over the years and made himself available on many editorial boards.
He has a passion for running and is still active, running half marathons when he can. He is a devoted husband, father and grandfather and now, in his retirement, is enjoying spending more time with his family.
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Powerful new cancer drugs are saving lives, but can also ignite diabetes or other autoimmune conditions

Last week, Yale University immunologist Kevan Herold spoke about a few of his newest diabetes patients to an unlikely audience: oncologists and cancer researchers. At the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s annual meeting in Oxon Hill, Maryland, Herold and other speakers described how a novel class of promising cancer drugs is causing type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases in some of those treated.
Known as checkpoint inhibitors, these medicines rev up the immune system and are rescuing people from deadly cancers. Physicians such as Herold, however, are now seeing a nasty, if treatable, side effect: the rapid onset of conditions such as thyroid disease, colitis, and type 1 diabetes, which all result from an immune attack on the body’s own tissues. As cases mount, researchers across specialties are intensifying efforts to figure out whether certain cancer patients on checkpoint inhibitors are at higher risk—and to learn from this unusual side effect how autoimmune attacks erupt. “These [patients] are human experiments” of the autoimmune process, Herold says.
The first case walked into Herold’s office a few years ago. She was 55 years old and had suddenly developed type 1 diabetes, which occurs when the body destroys cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Though the more common form of diabetes, type 2, is often diagnosed in middle age, type 1 is not. Herold learned that she had melanoma, and weeks earlier had received the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, an antibody that blocks the activity of a receptor called PD-1 on T cells.
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Psoriasis Severity Linked to Increased Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

PHILADELPHIA – People with psoriasis are at a higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes than those without psoriasis, and the risk increases dramatically based on the severity of the disease. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found people with psoriasis that covers 10 percent of their body or more are 64 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those without psoriasis, independent of traditional risk factors such as body weight. Applying the study’s findings to the number of people who have psoriasis worldwide would equate to 125,650 new cases of diabetes attributable to psoriasis per year. They published their findings this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Psoriasis is a disease of the immune system in which inflammation causes skin cells to multiply faster than normal. They cause raised, red patches covered by silvery scales when they reach the surface of the skin and die. It occurs most commonly on the scalp, knees, elbows, hands, and feet, but can also appear on the lower back, face, genitals, nails, and other places. The American Academy of Dermatology estimates psoriasis affects about 7.5 million Americans.
“The type of inflammation seen in psoriasis is known to promote insulin resistance, and psoriasis and diabetes share similar genetic mutations suggesting a biological basis for the connection between the two conditions we found in our study,” said the study’s senior author Joel M. Gelfand, MD MSCE, a professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology at Penn. “We know psoriasis is link Continue reading

The Best Nuts for Diabetes: Walnuts, Almonds, and More

When you’re looking for a satisfying diabetes-friendly snack, it’s hard to beat nuts. “Nuts are a super snack food for people with diabetes because they’re the total package — low in carbs and high in protein, fiber, and healthy fat — and they create a feeling of fullness,” says Cheryl Mussatto, RD, founder of Eat Well to Be Well in Osage City, Kansas.
Nuts: A Good Choice for Diabetes and Your Heart
The healthy fat in nuts protects your ticker, says Melissa Joy Dobbins, RDN, CDE, a spokesperson for the American Association of Diabetes Educators. That’s important because people with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to die of heart disease than those without it, according to the American Heart Association.
Heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in nuts can lower your LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, Mussatto says. “At the same time, nuts also raise levels of ‘good,’ or HDL, cholesterol,” she says. “This cholesterol acts sort of like a sanitation worker, removing cholesterol from the tissues for disposal, which prevents plaque buildup in the arteries.”
What’s more, nuts help regulate blood sugar, which makes them a better option to reach for than, say, pretzels, when afternoon hunger strikes, Mussatto says. Many kinds of nuts have this effect: Almonds have been shown to slow down the blood sugar response when eaten with carbohydrate-rich foods, according to a small study published in the journal Metabolism that focused on healthy people without the disease. A study published in March 2011 in the European Journal of Clinica Continue reading

Top 4 Snack Bars for Diabetes

Snack bars may be convenient, but they also can match up nutritionally to a standard candy bar. With excess sugar, fat, and added ingredients, it's important to read labels and know what kind of bars you are getting.
No Idle Snack Bar Eating
Make sure you eat them for a reason. For example, pre-workout fuel to prevent low blood sugar, or to tide hunger between meals when you are on-the-go. But, remember that not all bars are created equal—some don't stack up nutritionally to others.
I asked my patients and peer Certified Diabetes Educators to tell me their favorite snack bars based on flavor and blood sugar results. Before I reveal the "best picks," here are some basic guidelines and things to think about before buying a snack bar.
General Guidelines to Choosing a Healthy Snack Bar
There is no real science behind this, rather just trial and error and professional opinion. I tell my patients to aim to keep the counts close to this:
Sugar content less than 10 grams (the lower the better)
Carbohydrates less than 30 grams (depending on what you are eating it for)
Protein at least 5 grams (this will help you to feel full and reduce the likelihood of blood sugar crashes)
Fiber at least 3 grams
Calories less than 250
If you need a bar that is gluten free, vegan, or nut free make sure you read ingredients carefully
Keeping snacks to about 250 calories or less can help to prevent weight gain and keep metabolism revved up.
When Should You Eat a Snack Bar?
If you are running late to work and need a quick breakfast, a snack bar can be a good choice. To complete the meal, pair it with Continue reading