Professor takes extreme measures to prove a point--The Twinkie Diet

A professor at Kansas State University took a very extreme position to prove a very simple point--if you restrict the amount of calories you consume you will lose weight. He contends that it doesn't matter what the food is, in this case he was consuming a twinkie every 3 hours, you will lose weight if calorie output exceeds input. He did not exceed 1800 calories/day.

Although he lost 27 pounds in 2 months, is this extreme approach healthy? The most obvious answer is no. But there are some caveats people should be aware of. His blood lipid levels improved (cholesterol went down), although this is not the 'end all be all' to health, in my opinion. Most of the studies that were done on "The Atkins Diet" demonstrated favorable effects on blood lipids, his diet actually decreased LDL (the bad cholesterol). His subjects were taken fish oil supplements as welll, which may have contributed to the favorable results.

This professor was taken a multi-vitamin in conjunction with his 'Twinkie Diet".

My take is this: Restricting your calories (regardless of the food you consume) will ultimately induce weight loss in the short term. Most individuals want this quick fix. The problem is that there is a 90% recidivism rate, meaning 90% of dieters regain the weight over a two-year period.

This type of diet, in my opinion, is no different than an "Opti-Fast" type diet, where the dieter drinks shakes throughout the day. This is called 'Provision Eating'. Put simply, provision eating is providing portioned controlled meals (or meal replacements) so the dieter doesn't have to THINK! The more choices an obese person is confronted with (in regards to food)  the more likely they will fail on a weight loss plan, according to many experts. This is the basis of Jenny Craig, HMR (Health Management Resources) and of course, the "Opti-Fast' diet that Oprah popularized. Again, the long term effectiveness of these type programs are questionable. Kudo's to Valerie Bertinelli (spokeswoman for Jenny Craig) who has lost ~50 pounds and kept it off. She obviously has done a lot of inner work which is key for long term success.

Back to the "Twinkie Diet". This type of diet is probably a safe way to induce weight loss in the short term, but I would NOT recommend this for the long haul, for obvious reasons. A Twinkie is not food. It doesn't contain nutrients conducive to long term health. To see the video that was aired on Fox, click on the link below:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4412751/can-twinkies-make-you-skinny/