Twinkie Diet in the News
In November 2009, the Twinkie Diet received a lot of press due to Kansas State University Professor of Human Nutrition Mark Haub losing 27 pounds while on it. The professor is credited with inventing the diet.
While the professor at one Twinkie every three hours instead of meals, he also supplemented his diet with other junk food such as Oreo cookies, Doritos chips and Little Debbie snacks. His 27-pound weight loss occurred in a period of two months.
His body mass went down, his body fat dropped and his cholesterol levels improved. Despite this puzzling result, he does not recommend the diet as a means of losing weight or daily eating.
More information directly from the professor can be found on his Facebook page for the experiment.
The Diet
The purpose of the diet was to prove (or disprove) that calorie counting is more important than the nutritional value of the food eaten. It should be noted that the professor admitted to eating vegetables in front of his children to avoid setting a bad example for them, taking nutritional supplements, consuming protein shakes and exercising while on this diet.
Eating on the Diet
The diet was not limited to Twinkies. The professor ate other junk food, sometimes referring to it as ‘convenience food’. Approximately two-thirds of his daily eating regimen was junk food. This includes soda and sugary cereals (with whole milk).
The remainder of his diet was made up of more healthy options such as the aforementioned nutritional supplements, protein shakes and vegetables. The two of the vegetables he mentioned are canned green beans, baby carrots and celery.
Things to Remember
He exercised while he was on the diet and carefully monitored his caloric intake and health.
Portion control as a big part of his diet plan, which could leave a person hungry in between meals or snacks due to the high calorie counts in many of the diet’s foods. Ignoring this part of the diet is a sure way to gain weight.
For weight loss to occur, there must be a reduction in calories. For this experiment, Professor Haub went from his normal intake of 2600 calories to under 1800 calories per day.
The point of the diet experiment was to show how much calorie-counting matters in weight loss. The Twinkie Diet is not recommended, but it does show that counting calories matters and that it is okay to indulge in treats on occasion, keeping the calorie count in mind.
References
Twinkie Diet Helps Nutrition Professor Lose 27 Pounds. Madison Park. November 8, 2010. CNN Health. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
Twinkie Diet Review. Dr Susan Albers. November 11, 2010. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-susan-albers/the-twinkie-diet_b_781863.html