Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
We want to hear from you. We have activated our beta comment board system while we are testing it. Please comment on the story and share your thoughts.SALT LAKE CITY -- It sounds too good to be true -- lose weight while still eating the things we love. In one man's case, that was Twinkies, Nutter Butters, and other foods not usually recommended for dieters.
It's not necessarily the individual foods, but it's about how much of those foods we eat. It goes back to the old adage, a calorie is a calorie.
–Dr. Mark Haub
Dr. Mark Haub, nicknamed the Twinkie Diet Doctor, is an associate professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University. He lost more than 20 pounds while including snack foods in his diet.
As an experiment meant to promote discussion among his students about nutrition and weight loss, Haub limited his calories to 1,800 a day, kept physical exercise about the same, and ate a diet that included junk food. About two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill, drank a protein shake daily and ate some vegetables.
"I wanted to show that it's not necessarily the individual foods, the specific foods, but it's about how much, how many of those foods we eat. It goes back to the old adage, a calorie is a calorie," he said.
He acknowledges weight is not the only health factor. Other things like cholesterol and glucose need to be considered as well. He said when he measured them, they all went in the healthy direction during his experiment.
Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.
He says he has not gained back the weight he lost. Despite his temporary success, Haub does not recommend replicating his diet.
Haub added that traditional diets or even fad diets do work for some people. "My issue is I want people to find what works for them. For most of us, for myself, I like a variety of foods and I like to eat foods that some people don't like to eat. Some people don't like Twinkies, and that's fine."
Jennie Twitchell, a registered dietitian, shared the following points:
- Weight loss really is about quantity; to lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn. Certain foods don't make you fat; it is too many calories that make you gain weight. Overall health is a different story. It is well known that the quality of your diet over time is an important component for chronic disease risk. However, losing weight can improve risk of chronic disease, as well. She says Haub's diet is not any worse than the Atkins, South Beach, or hCG diets. The important thing will be to see if Dr. Haub's weight loss can be maintained long term.
- The results are not applicable to everyone. This "study" doesn't tell us anything about anybody except one man. A good study includes large numbers of diverse subjects and has a control variable. For example, a large group of people would be put on the junk food diet at a controlled level of calories and compared to another large group of people eating the same number of calories on a traditionally "healthy" diet. A certain slew of health indicators would be measured and the diets then could be compared. If your demographic matches that of the subject group then there is a better chance the results apply to you.
Our bodies know what they need; we have just completely forgotten how to listen to our hunger cues, and we rely on outside messages instead.
–Jennie Twitchell, dietitian
We also don't know what Dr. Haub's health indicators would show if he continued the diet for the rest of his life.
- "What should I do?" Everyone responds differently to the food they eat. Twitchell says many fad diets were created by someone who lost weight in a sensational way and saw an opportunity to make money by selling their idea to others. She says even the weirdest diets work for a few people, but that doesn't mean they are good for you, and the chances of them working for you may be minimal.
- The best thing you can do is make sure you aren't overeating. Your body knows how much it needs; you just need to learn how to recognize those signals. If you eat in response to stress, boredom, or other emotions then you are probably overeating. If you eat beyond your point of satisfaction or even fullness, then you are probably overeating, she said. Before taking a look at what you are eating, it may be wise to assess how much and solve the things affecting your portion sizes first. Once you are eating an appropriate quantity of food, you will be in a better place to improve the quality. Twitchell said, "People tell me all the time that they are eating everything right, no ‘bad foods' only ‘healthy' foods but they can't lose weight. Typically they are eating more than they are burning. In other cases it is hormonal." Play the video to see interviews with both Haub and Twitchell.
