Evolution and Carbohydrates in Our Diet and Exercise with Professor Tim Noakes

The key to living a long and happy life is taking care of your body. Regular exercise and a proper diet contribute significantly to your overall health. That’s why it’s essential to learn about nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, and fats to identify the type of food that your body needs. With the proper diet and exercise, you will find yourself feeling better, stronger, and faster than ever.

Joining us in this episode of Pushing the Limits is Professor Tim Noakes, a published author and researcher of science. He shares his realisations about the effects of a high-carbohydrate diet and how lessening it can improve performance and health. He also discusses the importance of drinking water when you’re physically active. Through his research, Professor Noakes has changed many people's approaches towards their diet. 

If you want to learn more about how you can strengthen your body and live healthily, this episode is for you! 

Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

1. Find out how humans have evolved and adapted throughout the years.  
2. Discover the best diet for you according to Professor Noakes’ guidelines.
3. Learn why you should avoid overdrinking and how your body knows best when it comes to water.

Resources

• Love the podcast? Become a patron and get exclusive access to bonus content! 
• Listen to more episodes, get the most out of your genes and find more information about Lisa and her work on her website.
• The Lore of Running, 4th Edition by Tim Noakes
• Waterlogged by Tim Noakes
• Association Between Fatigue and Failure to Preserve Cerebral Energy Turnover During Prolonged Exercise, an academic paper by Nybo, Møller, Pedersen, Nielsen and Secher (2003)
• More about athletes Bruce Fordyce and Dave Scott
• CrossFit
• Connect with Professor Noakes and the Noakes Foundation on their website

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Episode Highlights [03:09] Professor Noakes’ Career

• Professor Noakes went to medical school before shifting to research and science. 
• He started writing the Lore of Running for the public, which is currently ongoing with its fifth revision. 
• Originally a supporter of the high-carbohydrate diet, he realised he was giving the wrong dietary advice after struggling with Type II Diabetes.
• He lost funding from his university due to this realisation but won the case in court using well-proven science.
• With his research, he now teaches the proper management of diabetes.

[07:50] Against the Food Industry

• Professor Noakes lost funding from a company in the food industry after he stopped promoting their grain-based diet. 
• He was sued for his book, Waterlogged, because it went against the sports drink industry. 

[12:30] The Pressure from the Academe 

• Academic mobbing is the pressure to quit your academic work.
• Professionals such as deans and professors went against Prof Noakes. 
• Professor Noakes chose research and science because of the toxic environment in the field of medicine.
• The academic and medical profession is brutal, with long work hours and debt.

[15:39] Diet Guidelines

• Professor Noakes recommends eating based on what humans have evolved to eat.
• Historically, humans have hunted big animals and turned to agriculture for food.
• While reasonably healthy, vegetarian diets can be expensive and require highly refined food.
• He advises eating non-processed and animal-based food.

[19:17] The Human’s Digestive Evolution

• The human diet used to be mainly animal produce. Carbohydrates were only eaten during shortages.
• It isn’t easy to adapt from an animal-based, high-fat diet to a high-grain diet in a short period. 
• Gorillas have certain digestive mechanisms that can break down carbohydrates into fat.
• Humanity’s evolution as hunters resulted in a shorter bowel that is ideal for eating animal produce.

[23:47] On Long-Distance Running

• Running is not a sustainable activity to bring into older age.
• Orthopedic problems can develop, especially after decades. It is not an ideal long-term activity.

[26:22] Weight Control

• Removing carbohydrates helped Professor Noakes control his weight.
• He also found amazing benefits from his biweekly CrossFit sessions complemented with running.
• Now, he has more muscle mass and better flexibility than before. 

[30:52] Professor Noakes’ Writing

• Professor Noakes is rewriting the Lore of Running to debunk myths and misconceptions.
• He is also working on an article about eating before or after exercise.
• He recently discovered the reason why carbohydrates are necessary for exercise.
• Regardless of your diet, avoiding hypoglycemia during exercise is the main goal.

[37:05] Preventing Cancer Through Diet

• The low-carb, high-fat diet is ideal for preventing cancer.
• Insulin resistance, which can develop from a long-term high-carb diet, underlies most cancers.

[40:30] Busting Myths 

• The central government theory is true.
• Reduction of exercise performance to reduce lactate and glycogen is a myth.
• Measuring oxygen consumption and glycogen muscle storage is unimportant.
• His friend once subscribed to a high-carb diet before switching to low carbs. His running greatly improved.
• Dave Scott, a well-known athlete, has also seen improvements after changing his diet.

[45:39] What to Drink When Running

• Homeostatic regulation allows you to determine if you need to drink more to keep normal sodium levels.
• Drinking too much water can cause hyponatremia, which is when your sodium levels drop, causing brain swelling and reduced brain blood flow.
• A genetic defect causing the oversecretion of hormones can cause you to drink too much.
• It is best for marathon runners to drink only when they feel thirsty.
• Dehydration is not a medical condition. Your body can maintain normal levels as long as you drink when needed.

7 Powerful Quotes

[17:02] ‘The answer is we got to go back to eating what the Maoris were eating, or the Australian Aborigines. [T]hey were eating fish and other foods from the land.’ — Professor Tim Noakes 

[21:34] ‘We’re designed to eat animal produce, which is digested in the small bowel. That's how we evolved, and that allowed us to get our hips to narrow. That allowed us to start running because our knees came closer together; we could run more effectively. And then we became bigger hunters. And that then helped us evolve further.’ — Professor Tim Noakes

[26:07] ‘I do a lot of strength work and yoga and things like that to balance things out. I feel a ton healthier — day and night healthy. I can manage my weight much better. I was fatter when I was running the distances.’ — Lisa Tamati

[28:26] ‘I do an hour or two twice a week, and it's 40 minutes really odd but really, really odd. Then I came to complement that with some running, but that's what I need. I've bulked up. I've put on five kilograms of muscle at the age of 72. I'm lifting weights that I could never even consider when I was younger.’ — Professor Tim Noakes

[29:40] ‘I was having spasms 10 times a day. Then I started doing CrossFit and I worked my way up. Now it’s been years without a single spasm. I do not have back pain and I have a very, very strong core. And I work on the core and I maintain it because the back injury is still there but I don't have any issues.’ — Lisa Tamati

[44:41] ‘He wrote to me about four years ago and says to me, “I've just read your book, and I changed my diet.” And he said, “I wish I'd been eating this diet all my life.”’— Professor Tim Noakes

[49:28] ‘You don't need to be told when to drink. Your body will tell you when to drink. So you just drink to thirst, and that's absolutely what is the case. You drink to thirst, and you'll be fine.’ — Professor Tim Noakes

About Professor Noakes

Professor Tim Noakes is an author and researcher focusing on sports and exercise science. Alongside Morné du Plessis, he helped found the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. There, they expanded the limits of research for sports science and encouraged interest in the field. 

Professor Noakes’ book, Lore of Running, is often considered the bible of running. His other book, Waterlogged, talks about his research on exercise-associated hyponatremia. Professor Noakes has published over 750 scientific books and articles and has won multiple awards for his contributions to sports science. 

Learn more about Professor Tim Noakes by visiting The Noakes Foundation. You can also connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.

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