Some of you in parts of the world other than South Africa might not have heard the name of Tim Noakes before, though I’m sure many have. He’s enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a sports scientist, but has recently been in the news fairly regularly thanks to his advocating of a LCHF (low carb high fat) or paleo-type diet. Locally, he’s the most prominent evangelist for it – and the word “evangelist” sometimes seems appropriate, in that it sometimes seems as if the message of this gospel seems more important than the argument for it.<\/p>\n
After the recent publication of a study of his, in the South African Medical Journal, I posted something expressing dismay that both he and the journal in question thought it worth reporting 127 self-reported anecdotes, as they did. He subsequently responded to that post, and I’ve written a follow-up in response to his comment.<\/p>\n
Those of you interested in scientific reasoning, and the extent to which basic principles of critical reasoning can and should be applied to it, might want to take a look. The posts in question are:<\/p>\n
Lessons in bad science – Tim Noakes and the SAMJ<\/a><\/p>\n