Twinkie Diet
jmmtaylor
Posts: 225
(CNN) -- Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts.
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.
His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.
The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months.
For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub's pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.
His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.
But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.
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.
"That's where the head scratching comes," Haub said. "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we're missing something?"
Haub's sample day
Espresso, Double: 6 calories; 0 grams of fat
Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
Centrum Advanced Formula From A To Zinc: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
Little Debbie Star Crunch: 150 calories; 6 grams of fat
Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
Diet Mountain Dew: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
Doritos Cool Ranch: 75 calories; 4 grams of fat
Kellogg's Corn Pops: 220 calories; 0 grams of fat
whole milk: 150 calories; 8 grams of fat
baby carrots: 18 calories; 0 grams of fat
Duncan Hines Family Style Brownie Chewy Fudge: 270 calories; 14 grams of fat
Little Debbie Zebra Cake: 160 calories; 8 grams of fat
Muscle Milk Protein Shake: 240 calories; 9 grams of fat
Totals: 1,589 calories and 59 grams of fat
Despite his temporary success, Haub does not recommend replicating his snack-centric diet.
"I'm not geared to say this is a good thing to do," he said. "I'm stuck in the middle. I guess that's the frustrating part. I can't give a concrete answer. There's not enough information to do that."
Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks.
Families who live in food deserts have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, so they often rely on the kind of food Haub was eating.
"These foods are consumed by lots of people," he said. "It may be an issue of portion size and moderation rather than total removal. I just think it's unrealistic to expect people to totally drop these foods for vegetables and fruits. It may be healthy, but not realistic."
Haub's body fat dropped from 33.4 to 24.9 percent. This posed the question: What matters more for weight loss, the quantity or quality of calories?
His success is probably a result of caloric reduction, said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian based in Atlanta, Georgia.
"It's a great reminder for weight loss that calories count," she said. "Is that the bottom line to being healthy? That's another story."
Blatner, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said she's not surprised to hear Haub's health markers improved even when he loaded up on processed snack cakes.
Being overweight is the central problem that leads to complications like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, she said.
How well are you managing your diabetes?
"When you lose weight, regardless of how you're doing it -- even if it's with packaged foods, generally you will see these markers improve when weight loss has improved," she said.
Before jumping on the Ding Dong bandwagon, Blatner warned of health concerns.
"There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."
I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much.
On August 25, Haub, 41, started his cake diet focusing on portion control.
"I'm eating to the point of need and pushing the plate or wrapper away," he said.
He intended the trial to last a month as a teaching tool for his class. As he lost weight, Haub continued the diet until he reached a normal body mass index.
Before his Twinkie diet, he tried to eat a healthy diet that included whole grains, dietary fiber, berries and bananas, vegetables and occasional treats like pizza.
"There seems to be a disconnect between eating healthy and being healthy," Haub said. "It may not be the same. I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much."
He maintained the same level of moderate physical activity as before going on the diet. (Haub does not have any ties to the snack cake companies.)
To avoid setting a bad example for his kids, Haub ate vegetables in front of his family. Away from the dinner table, he usually unwrapped his meals.
Study: U.S. obesity rate will hit 42 percent
Haub monitored his body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose, and updated his progress on his Facebook page, Professor Haub's diet experiment.
To curb calories, he avoided meat, whole grains and fruits. Once he started adding meat into the diet four weeks ago, his cholesterol level increased.
Haub plans to add about 300 calories to his daily intake now that he's done with the diet. But he's not ditching snack cakes altogether. Despite his weight loss, Haub feels ambivalence.
"I wish I could say the outcomes are unhealthy. I wish I could say it's healthy. I'm not confident enough in doing that. That frustrates a lot of people. One side says it's irresponsible. It is unhealthy, but the data doesn't say that."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html?hpt=T2&ref=nf
For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.
His premise: That in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most -- not the nutritional value of the food.
The premise held up: On his "convenience store diet," he shed 27 pounds in two months.
For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub's pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.
His body mass index went from 28.8, considered overweight, to 24.9, which is normal. He now weighs 174 pounds.
But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.
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.
"That's where the head scratching comes," Haub said. "What does that mean? Does that mean I'm healthier? Or does it mean how we define health from a biology standpoint, that we're missing something?"
Haub's sample day
Espresso, Double: 6 calories; 0 grams of fat
Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
Centrum Advanced Formula From A To Zinc: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
Little Debbie Star Crunch: 150 calories; 6 grams of fat
Hostess Twinkies Golden Sponge Cake: 150 calories; 5 grams of fat
Diet Mountain Dew: 0 calories; 0 grams of fat
Doritos Cool Ranch: 75 calories; 4 grams of fat
Kellogg's Corn Pops: 220 calories; 0 grams of fat
whole milk: 150 calories; 8 grams of fat
baby carrots: 18 calories; 0 grams of fat
Duncan Hines Family Style Brownie Chewy Fudge: 270 calories; 14 grams of fat
Little Debbie Zebra Cake: 160 calories; 8 grams of fat
Muscle Milk Protein Shake: 240 calories; 9 grams of fat
Totals: 1,589 calories and 59 grams of fat
Despite his temporary success, Haub does not recommend replicating his snack-centric diet.
"I'm not geared to say this is a good thing to do," he said. "I'm stuck in the middle. I guess that's the frustrating part. I can't give a concrete answer. There's not enough information to do that."
Two-thirds of his total intake came from junk food. He also took a multivitamin pill and drank a protein shake daily. And he ate vegetables, typically a can of green beans or three to four celery stalks.
Families who live in food deserts have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, so they often rely on the kind of food Haub was eating.
"These foods are consumed by lots of people," he said. "It may be an issue of portion size and moderation rather than total removal. I just think it's unrealistic to expect people to totally drop these foods for vegetables and fruits. It may be healthy, but not realistic."
Haub's body fat dropped from 33.4 to 24.9 percent. This posed the question: What matters more for weight loss, the quantity or quality of calories?
His success is probably a result of caloric reduction, said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian based in Atlanta, Georgia.
"It's a great reminder for weight loss that calories count," she said. "Is that the bottom line to being healthy? That's another story."
Blatner, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said she's not surprised to hear Haub's health markers improved even when he loaded up on processed snack cakes.
Being overweight is the central problem that leads to complications like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, she said.
How well are you managing your diabetes?
"When you lose weight, regardless of how you're doing it -- even if it's with packaged foods, generally you will see these markers improve when weight loss has improved," she said.
Before jumping on the Ding Dong bandwagon, Blatner warned of health concerns.
"There are things we can't measure," said Blatner, questioning how the lack of fruits and vegetables could affect long-term health. "How much does that affect the risk for cancer? We can't measure how diet changes affect our health."
I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much.
On August 25, Haub, 41, started his cake diet focusing on portion control.
"I'm eating to the point of need and pushing the plate or wrapper away," he said.
He intended the trial to last a month as a teaching tool for his class. As he lost weight, Haub continued the diet until he reached a normal body mass index.
Before his Twinkie diet, he tried to eat a healthy diet that included whole grains, dietary fiber, berries and bananas, vegetables and occasional treats like pizza.
"There seems to be a disconnect between eating healthy and being healthy," Haub said. "It may not be the same. I was eating healthier, but I wasn't healthy. I was eating too much."
He maintained the same level of moderate physical activity as before going on the diet. (Haub does not have any ties to the snack cake companies.)
To avoid setting a bad example for his kids, Haub ate vegetables in front of his family. Away from the dinner table, he usually unwrapped his meals.
Study: U.S. obesity rate will hit 42 percent
Haub monitored his body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose, and updated his progress on his Facebook page, Professor Haub's diet experiment.
To curb calories, he avoided meat, whole grains and fruits. Once he started adding meat into the diet four weeks ago, his cholesterol level increased.
Haub plans to add about 300 calories to his daily intake now that he's done with the diet. But he's not ditching snack cakes altogether. Despite his weight loss, Haub feels ambivalence.
"I wish I could say the outcomes are unhealthy. I wish I could say it's healthy. I'm not confident enough in doing that. That frustrates a lot of people. One side says it's irresponsible. It is unhealthy, but the data doesn't say that."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html?hpt=T2&ref=nf
0
Replies
-
Oh gawd. I cannot stand these stories. People are trying to be Jared and doing it in unhealthy ways!!!!0
-
Jared combined his with exercise as well...On Sunday he completed the New York Marathon.0
-
What I take is...some people lose their minds when they eat a candy bar, or a Hostess Ding Dong (yes, the main point of this replay was just to be able to say Ding Dong). It means people can calm down and not hyperventilate. I doubt anyone is going to try it.Oh gawd. I cannot stand these stories. People are trying to be Jared and doing it in unhealthy ways!!!!
That "diet:" sounds pretty much my meal plan this weekend to the water park.0 -
Which is why I don't freak out when I have something unhealthy to eat like a 100 calorie bag of chips or a piece of CAKE I had at the MC Ball. LOL
Even if you're losing weight, you can still be unhealthy from the crap that's in the foods. I'd rather be healthy overall!0 -
What I take is...some people lose their minds when they eat a candy bar, or a Hostess Ding Dong (yes, the main point of this replay was just to be able to say Ding Dong). It means people can calm down and not hyperventilate. I doubt anyone is going to try it.Oh gawd. I cannot stand these stories. People are trying to be Jared and doing it in unhealthy ways!!!!
That "diet:" sounds pretty much my meal plan this weekend to the water park.
I agree, it does help put things in perspective for those 'I've completely derailed because I ate a snickers bar' moments. I try to eat healthier than I was before, but there are days where I eat total junk and I'm still losing. As a matter of fact, I forgot my breakfast this morning and I ate a serving of Nilla Wafers instead. And they were fantastic.
Not to say it's what you should eat every day, but for the most part as long as you keep a defecit, it doesn't matter how you do it. 0 -
Oh gawd. I cannot stand these stories. People are trying to be Jared and doing it in unhealthy ways!!!!
I don't really know how Jared comes to play in this, but this is interesting. It gives me a bit of piece of mind because it's not that you should or shouldn't cut out certain foods, it's just that you don't HAVE to. But it also just makes this whole weight loss/fitness/health thing more complex because I'm looking for all three, not just weight loss. So while this is oddly comforting, it's oddly unnerving too...if that makes any sense haha.0 -
I have to say, apart from the brownie action he was actually doing a pretty low-fat diet. :laugh:0
-
This would be great for weight loss I guess but what about Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Sodium etc. I lived a lifestyle of nothi9ng but fast food, c-store foods and the like and now I have High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes. Lean Proteins, more fruits and veggies and exercise. Like Michael Pollan says in some of his books, if you have a hard time pronouncing some of the ingredients in the food then it probably is not food. not to say I don't still treat myself with a little taste of junk from time to time, just not ALL the time0
-
Thanks fr the article. It makes feel better. I do eat a lot better than this guy, but certainly do not completely avoid processed crap food, if it is within my calorie budget. I also exercise too. Its good to know I can lose weight this way and not completely wreck my body because I have a couple of bad things each day.0
-
The point of the storey is that calories count. That’s all you really need to know so its ok to have a treat once and a while as long as you account for it.
That being said the Hostess diet sounds like fun... hmmmmm.
I wouldn’t compare this storey to Jared, despite Subway's high levels of sodium its low-calorie and full of nutrients unlike snack cakes.
It’s just like the popular Hollywood Cookie diet, you eat nothing but cookies but when you add it up you are only eating 800 calories a day so of course you loose weight.0 -
As far as weight loss, I agree that it is all about calories, not fat or carbs or whatever. All those lofat or low carb diets ultimately limited calories by limiting a food source. So I'm glad to see my beliefs substantiated.
For me personally, I can make this work much better with counting calories. That way I can plan a treat into my day. I've been doing this for 10 months now, have lost 40 lbs, and have very rarely felt deprived. And I can eat in the real world (restaurants, at someone's dinner party, etc) because I don't have to have "special" food. I just have to plan ahead. I think I can maintain this time as long as I stay under my calorie goal each day. In the past, on the lofat or low carb diets, the pounds flew back on as soon as I started eating regular food.
As far as the health, I'm not enough of an expert to know, but I am looking forward to getting all my "numbers" checked when I go to the doc. this year.0 -
I would never do a diet like that Dr. did, it just doesnt make any sense to me at all. Jared own made more sense, Subway is way healthier than that mess that Dr. did, the only problem I have with Subway is their sodium levels.
A diet of twinky and junk food, I will pass.0 -
I think it shows that even as we try to lose weight that we can still eat what we want IN MODERATION and still lose. If we really, really want something and have the calories for it in our day go ahead. It's not going to kill us. Kind of takes the stress out of eating that Halloween chocolate bar I ate last night. I don't feel so guilty0
-
mmm nutty bars...somebody shake some sense into me!0
-
I agree that it IS all about calories in vs. calories burned which is why I'll never deny myself any particular food. THAT said, there are foods that make me run at peak performance, don't cause cravings, keep me energized and satisfied and none of them are made by Hostess or Little Debbie.
Charmagne0 -
Nutty Bars are the best! Frozen, crushed up on top of my chocolate ice cream!mmm nutty bars...somebody shake some sense into me!0 -
Nutty Bars are the best! Frozen, crushed up on top of my chocolate ice cream!mmm nutty bars...somebody shake some sense into me!
I have a box in my fridge. They have been in there since August. LOL!0 -
This would be great for weight loss I guess but what about Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Sodium etc. I lived a lifestyle of nothi9ng but fast food, c-store foods and the like and now I have High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes. Lean Proteins, more fruits and veggies and exercise. Like Michael Pollan says in some of his books, if you have a hard time pronouncing some of the ingredients in the food then it probably is not food. not to say I don't still treat myself with a little taste of junk from time to time, just not ALL the time
From the article,"But you might expect other indicators of health would have suffered. Not so.
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.
Haub monitored his body composition, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose, and updated his progress on his Facebook page, Professor Haub's diet experiment."
Of course, that is not monitoring everything. The point is that overall, counting calories can help you lose weight, and simply losing weight will help things like your cholesterol, no matter how you do it.
The article was very well done. Doesn't say the diet is healthy, but doesn't say it isn't. It obviously had huge benefits, but the unknowns could be scary, or they could not.
Either way, I don't think most people will try it. I won't. But, it does say something about the simple equation of calories in vs. calories out.0 -
I agree, I believe the point of this diet was to show people it is ok to cheat from time to time but you dont have to go outside of your calorie goal. So if you are just craving a zebra cake have one but workout longer and cut down your next snack to carrots etc. People who get scared to eat the one thing they just CANT stand not having from time to time are those to have REFLEX and lose 50 lbs then FREAKOUT and gain it back in 4 months :-( All in moderation and treats are always accepted!!0
-
I would never do a diet like that Dr. did, it just doesnt make any sense to me at all. Jared own made more sense, Subway is way healthier than that mess that Dr. did, the only problem I have with Subway is their sodium levels.
A diet of twinky and junk food, I will pass.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but Jared's Subway diet was actually pretty nutritionally void.
If you google his diet, you get this info:
"Jared started skipping breakfast, and ate just two subs a day, a small turkey and a large veggie, along with some baked potato chips, and diet soda. Soon, he cut his daily consumption from 10,000 calories a day to just 2,000."
Yes, so he cut his calories a bunch, which of course worked. But what nutrition was he getting? Sodium ridden processed turkey, processed bread, cardboard chips and diet soda? There are no actual veggies on the veggie sub, just fillers like pickles, peppers, etc..
My point was everyone thinks, oh cool, I can eat whatever I want as long as I stay within my calories...but eventually that "junk" will catch up with you. Of course its ok to splurge once in a while, but the fad diets are ridiculous. We need to learn to eat a sensible diet with plenty of nutrition and an occasionally splurge, not a "fit it in because I can" mentality.
Just my $.02.
0 -
I agree, I believe the point of this diet was to show people it is ok to cheat from time to time but you dont have to go outside of your calorie goal. So if you are just craving a zebra cake have one but workout longer and cut down your next snack to carrots etc. People who get scared to eat the one thing they just CANT stand not having from time to time are those to have REFLEX and lose 50 lbs then FREAKOUT and gain it back in 4 months :-( All in moderation and treats are always accepted!!
Agreed.
I never understood why people freak if they had a piece of pie, candy, or cake. It's like relax, breathe. It isn't going to affect your weight loss.
Keep track of your calories. Want a piece of cheesecake? Sure! Work it into your daily food diary. That's why it's there. I always make my food diary the night before so I know how many calories I plan on eating and how many are leftover.
People who ignore their cravings and food they always loved, will eventually start binging. That is what will make you gain weight. To keep your sanity, to yourself a favor and have that Snicker's bar or that piece of cake.0 -
I think that eating clean is the way to go, at least for me, my experience tells me that when I eat 1200 kcal of junk food I gain, yes I gain, and when I do it from real, clean, and healthy food I lose!....Maybe this guy experiments also a lot of weight loss but not too much fat loss, and that's what we all want. I am pretty sure the Twinkie diet is low in protein so, that would lead to lose a lot of lean mass....Eating clean is the way, that doesn't mean you can't indulge sometimes, but if you want a good fat loss you have to eat healthy foods...0
-
Apparently he did have a protein shake, a vitamin pill and vegetables every day as well as all of the cake, so obviously not as bad nutritionally as it could have been.0
-
Ugh! I would have gotten sick taking in all of that sugar. Whatever works for people, though . . .0
-
mmm nutty bars...somebody shake some sense into me!
Ya me too.0 -
Oh gawd. I cannot stand these stories. People are trying to be Jared and doing it in unhealthy ways!!!!
I think you missed the point of the story, COUNT CALORIES!!!0 -
I think it makes a difference that this guy started out overweight to begin with. Of course eating less calories no matter what it is, is going to make a huge difference when you've got a lot to lose in the first place. Me, I'm a healthy person and to go to a diet like that would not benefit me whatsoever. I know that sticking to unprocessed, organic and as much clean eating as I can get will do the best for my body. Don't get me wrong, I have treats now and then but I would never eat as much toxic crap as he had done. If you believe that this **** won't affect your health, you're wrong. Your body needs fuel and even though he lost weight there is probably a lot that is left out. He probably has a weakened immune system, fatigue, and lack of nutrients in his body. I guess if you're desperate enough and can't have self control over snacks, go for it. For me, being and feeling healthy is what matters.0
-
I'm starting this diet tomorrow!!! Yay for Twinkies!!!
(just kidding!...thanks for the info!) 0 -
Ugh! I would have gotten sick taking in all of that sugar. Whatever works for people, though . . .
agreed. with all that junk, I would DEFNINITELY have a stomach ache most of the day. I get a stomach ache just form eating a little cake now.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions