Deconstructing the Twinkie Diet
Comments (1) 
For 23 days, KSU nutrition professor Mark Haub has been eating Little Debbie Pecan Spin Wheels for breakfast, Hostess Twinkies for lunch, birthday cake for supper and Doritos for dessert.
As of yesterday, he’s lost 13 lbs.
And according to the prof, not only has he lost weight during this experiment, his health has improved by eating a reduced calorie (under 1800 kcal) diet of twinkies, swiss cake rolls, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, peanut butter oreos, hot dogs & a glass of milk to wash it down.
After 3 weeks on this anti-diet diet, the Prof is sleeping better, is snoring less, has lowered his LDL cholesterol, has raised his HDL cholesterol and has maintained his RDA level of nutrients by taking vitamins and eating low cal veggies like celery.
So, is this diet healthy?
That’s the question Professor Haub wants people to ask themselves. He wants us (and his students) to question the idea that eating fruits, vegetables, low-fat protein and whole grains is the only way to lose weight.
According to Haub, “It’s unrealistic in some areas of society to expect that you can find fresh broccoli, tomatoes at a price that is affordable. If somebody can get their nutrients from a supplement and then they get their fuel from whatever is available, does it matter that they’re not getting fruits and vegetables and whole grains?
Haub believes that “it doesn’t matter where the macronutrients are derived from as long as essential nutrients are consumed at the recommended levels, and the fuel is consumed at a level at or below energy expenditure.”
And this is where I have to call B.S. on Prof. Haub’s Twinkie Diet.
His belief that a handful of vitamins can replace the nutrients found in a diet of actual food is a total crock of twinkie goo.
- I agree with the Prof that caloric consumption is the strongest indicator of weight loss/gain.
- I agree with the Prof that supplementing his Twinkie Diet with vitamin & mineral supplements will help to address the obvious nutritional deficiencies.
However, before people start swarming their local 7-11 to get the last box of Diet Twinkies, the Nutrition Professor should remind us (and the media) this is a short term experiment that is limited in scope & depth.
It will not measure:
- The damage caused by the over-consumption of trans fats, artificial colors, petroleum derived flavorings, chemical emulsifiers, chemical preservatives, etc…
- The effect that the high levels of HFCS & other sugars is having upon Prof. Haub’s poor ole pancreas
- Any increase in systemic inflammation and ph levels
- The increased cravings for sugar…. brought upon by those twinkies and peanut butter oreos
- The lack of enzymes, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, non-vitamin cofactors, sterols, polyphenols, flavonoids, phytosterols, carotenoids, prebiotics, probiotics, triterpenes, mineral salts, amino acids, etc…
In short, Professor Haub has shown us that when you eat less food, you lose body-fat.
Of course, a 15 year old anorexic teenager could have told us that.
Diabetes, Diet, Diet/Nutrition, Fat Loss, featured, Fitness, Health, high blood pressure / hypertension, I Wanna Be Healthy, I Wanna Look Great, mark haub, news, Nutrition, Obesity, Research, twinkie, twinkie diet, Weight Loss
| 
Blueberry Muffins, Cake Rolls, Diet Diet, Eating Fruits, Energy Expenditure, Essential Nutrients, Fruits And Vegetables, Fruits Vegetables, Glass Of Milk, Haub, Hdl Cholesterol, Hostess Twinkies, Hot Dogs, Ldl Cholesterol, Loss Gain, macronutrients, Mineral Supplements, Professor Mark, Reduced Calorie, Whole Grains
Themocracy