Basically this involves stacks of protein, zero carbohydrates and even less sugar.
But what is of more interest is that Noakes’ new diet also represents one of the most dramatic U-turns in culinary history.
Not too long ago he was the runners’ guru and stipulated that if you didn’t gorge daily on plates of carbo-saturated pasta and chips, you wouldn’t cut much ice as an endurance athlete.
I like the new Noakes diet as I prefer eggs and bacon to doughnuts and muesli. But there is also mounting evidence to show he is absolutely correct. And it doesn’t come from wheezing road-pounding people in Lycra, but from the mountains of Crete.
Historians have often wondered why during World War 2 Crete, a 169-mile rocky outcrop in the Mediterranean, provided the stiffest resistance of any nation – more impressive than even the Norwegian saboteurs.
Hitler needed Crete strategically both as a runway for his planes to supply Rommel in North Africa and as a stepping stone to the Russian front.
Yet he discovered nothing – but nothing – was as ferocious as a shepherd living on fatty mutton, feral greens, bread so hard you snapped teeth and rough Raki.
To further confuse matters, the Brit undercover agents providing logistical support were the exact opposite of the wild Cretans.
Poet playboys
Instead, they were academics who mainly spoke the ancient Greek of Homer, or poet playboys such as the legendary Paddy Leigh Fermor.
Yet an amazing thing happened; these romantic misfits soon became absolute warriors once they adopted the food and lifestyle of the fierce mountain men.
This is magnificently told in the book ‘Natural Born Heroes’ by Chris McDougall, where he describes how it was nothing for a Cretan shepherd with a bolt-action rifle and open-iron sights to sprint down a mountain and shoot stone-dead from half a kilometre away a German officer busy torching his village.
Researching the almost legendary courage of the Cretans, McDougall found two things that are unique to the island.
One, its history is littered with mythical heroes: the god Zeus was born there while Odysseus had strong Cretan links and Theseus killed the Minotaur in Knossos.
And secondly, the islanders’ diet has not changed since the heroic days of Achilles and Helen of Troy.
They eat a ton of fat – and yet they are the fittest and healthiest people around.
This was key to resistance fighters and the ragtag bunch of artsy Brit agents helping them.
Hiding in hills so rugged that rocks shredded boots in weeks, surviving on a mouthful of boiled sheep meat, snails picked up on the run, hazel nuts and wine while being hunted by the most powerful military machine the world had known, they tapped into an ancient style of fitness that warriors of Alexander the Great would recognise in an instant.
Body fat endurance
They listened to their instincts, replaced calories with stored body fat and used their fascia, the network of tissue which criss-crosses the body like an elastic wetsuit, to catapult themselves to feats of superhuman strength and endurance.
It is said the Cretans literally ‘bounced’ up and down the mountains while the Germans scrambled behind.
Under Paddy Leigh Fermor, a bunch of Cretan outlaws did the absolute impossible; they snatched a Nazi general by hijacking his car and then and outran 50 000 pursuing Germans equipped with unlimited firepower.
It beggars belief. It’s the equivalent of several back-to-back Comrades Marathons with the added incentive that you didn’t get a bronze medal if you finished – you got your life.
Which brings us back to the Noakes diet.
The Cretans understood the age-old secret of survival is using high-octane fat rather than fizzle-burning sugar as fuel.
The high protein, low-carb diet which juiced our hunter-gatherer ancestors for a gazillion years has been right all along.
To test this theory, I can think of no better way than going into a London restaurant and ordering the biggest T-bone the kitchen can serve up.
You’ll soon find yourself running for your life when the waiter presents the bill.
