Twinkie and Oreo diet works - loses 27 lbs in 2 months!

[Selene]

Nutritionist loses 27 pounds on Twinkie and Oreo diet — no really

November 5, 2010 by Carol Katarsky

Posted in: Health care/Treatment trends, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Patient/Client Communication

A professor's experiment with the so-called "convenience store diet" had some surprising results. But no one's recommending this plan substitute for Weight Watchers.

Mark Haub is a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University. To prove his point that it's solely the number of calories consumed, not the quality of calories, that causes weight gain, he put himself on a strict regimen of junk food: Every three hours, Haub ate one Twinkie, doughnut, small bag of chips or similarly healthy treat. He supplemented that with a daily multivitamin. To avoid setting a bad example for his kids, he chowed down on a small portion of vegetables (such as three stalks of celery or a can of green beans) at home each night.

Overall, Haub cut his daily caloric intake from roughly 2600 calories a day to 1800 for two months.

The results were, in his own words, head-scratching. Haub lost 27 pounds, his body fat dropped from 33.4% to 24.9% and his body mass index went from an overweight 28.8 to a normal 24.9. Even more shockingly, his LDL, or "bad" cholesterol dropped 20% and his HDL ("good" cholesterol) increased by 20%. His triglycerides dropped 39%.

One theory is that just losing the weight — even if it's done by eating near-garbage — allows the body to improve those key markers of health.

But no one, including Haub, recommends his diet as a way to lose weight. Such a nutrient-free diet is likely to have longer term effects that outweigh any improvement in weight, cholesterol levels, etc.T

Edited November 9, 2010 by Selene

[kiaer.ts]

In the summer of '86 I was working as a cook at Denny's and subsisted on Froot Loops and Mozzarella Sticks. I lost about 20 lbs. On such a limited diet you lose interest in eating.

[sbeaulieu]

This was a good article. I had read it yesterday on Fox News. What I liked about it is that it refutes good dieting being the only way to lose weight (not exclusive to losing healthy weight). So, if you have a rough stretch of a couple months, you can still lose weight through calorie restriction.

I'd combine Twinkies with Snoballs!

~ Shane

[RagJohn]

A lb of FAT is 3500 calories. To lose 27 lbs of it, in 2 months, you'd have to lose almost 1/2 lb per day, or 1600 calories. Since that is twice what he did, he lost MUSCLE. Protein and carbs have 1/2 as many calories per oz as fat. Your body has 2 mechanisms that hurt dieting. One is the "fat sparing" mechanism, and the other is the "famine response". with the latter, when you go below about 500 calories per day(less than you're used to) your body will reduce your rate of metabolism, so you require less calories to maintain your current weight. The fat sparing thing means that, given a choice, your body will consume your muscles rather than fat. So you have to exercise a lot while dieting. If you lose muscle mass, and don't exercise a lot while gaining wt, the wt you regain is going to be gained as fat. That's why "yo yo" dieting and wt gain is so bad for you. Far better to follow the example of Jack Lalanne, never GET fat, workout like a fiend. If you can't do that, then the Atkins diet is what you want. While losing wt, severely limit your carbs, eat all the fat and protein you want (it won't be much) It's carbs that let you pig out on 3-4K more calories per day than your body requires. Stick to green veggies, avoid sweets (including fruit) and avoid rice, wheat flour products, dairy products (except hard cheeses) avoid soy, yogurt, potatoes, corn, beans, and you will lose wt rapidly. exercise hard as you do so, limiting carbs to 20-30 grams per day. That is very little, like what's in one candy bar. tuna, most fish, in fact, seafood, is almost pure protein. It gets expensive, up to $30 a day, to vary this diet enough to not burn you out. But, if you are more than 20 lbs over your ideal wt, you'd better do it. Atkin's books show you how to prep fine meals, with low carb content. His lab's will test your blood, too, because most people need supplementation of one sort or another. Chrome, magnesium, zinc, etc, are often not in the soil where your food is grown, so your diet CANNOT provide those minerals.

Edited December 23, 2010 by RagJohn

[Selene]

A lb of FAT is 3500 calories. To lose 27 lbs of it, in 2 months,

you'd have to lose almost 1/2 lb per day, or 1600 calories. Since that is twice what he did,

he lost MUSCLE. Protein and carbs have 1/2 as many calories per oz as fat. Your body has 2 mechanisms that hurt dieting. One is the "fat sparing" mechanism, and the other is the "famine response". with the latter, when you go below about 500 calories per day(less than you're used to) your body will reduce your rate of metabolism, so you require less calories to maintain your current weight. The fat sparing thing means that, given a choice, your body will consume your muscles rather than fat. So you have to exercise a lot while dieting. If you lose muscle mass, and don't exercise a lot while gaining wt, the wt you regain is going to be gained as fat. That's why "yo yo" dieting and wt gain is so bad for you. Far better to follow the example of Jack Lalanne, never GET fat, workout like a fiend. If you can't do that, then the Atkins diet is what you want. While losing wt, severely limit your carbs, eat all the fat and protein you want (it won't be much) It's carbs that let you pig out on 3-4K more calories per day than your body requires. Stick to green veggies, avoid sweets (including fruit) and avoid rice, wheat flour products, dairy products (except hard cheeses) avoid soy, yogurt, potatoes, corn, beans, and you will lose wt rapidly. exercise hard as you do so, limiting carbs to 20-30 grams per day. That is very little, like what's in one candy bar. tuna, most fish, in fact, seafood, is almost pure protein. It gets expensive, up to $30 a day, to vary this diet enough to not burn you out. But, if you are more than 20 lbs over your ideal wt, you'd better do it. Atkin's books show you how to prep fine meals, with low carb content. His lab's will test your blood, too, because most people need supplementation of one sort or another. Chrome, magnesium, zinc, etc, are often not in the soil where your food is grown, so your diet CANNOT provide those minerals.

John:

It says that:

"Overall, Haub cut his daily caloric intake from roughly 2600 calories a day to 1800 for two months." So I am confused at your statement above.

Adam