Think Twice About the Twinkie Diet

by Brooke on November 16, 2010

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A nutrition professor at Kansas State University named, Mark Haub, recently went on a diet that consisted mostly of the famous yellow snack cake known as the Twinkie.  Mark’s story was recently reported in the Chicago Tribune.  His diet seemed to cause an uproar in the nutrition realm.   Twinkie diet…what?  

As stated in the Chicago Tribune, his point was simple, “that in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most — not the nutritional value of the food.” 

I thought this statement was the most important part of the whole article, because yes the basic principle of calories in vs. calories out is important.  However, healthy lifestyles are sustainable meaning they must be continued successfully and safely over time.  

His diet did cause his LDL (bad) cholesterol to go down, but that is what happens when you lose weight.  That is why doctors push for weight loss before they give their patients cholesterol reducing drugs like Lipitor or Simvastatin. It would have been more interesting if they had also measured inflammatory markers or endothelial function as those labs are more likely to be negatively impacted due to the high fat and high sugar in this drastic “diet.”  Inflammation is linked to chronic disease. I also thought it was fascinating that he consumed a protein shake, multivitamin, and two servings of vegetables every day.  It goes against his statement that the nutritional value of food doesn’t matter!  He knew that he was putting his body through trauma and wanted to try and supplement his unhealthy eating patterns with something of “nutritional value”,  but the media loves to cling on to crazy and not common sense!  The media wants you to believe that only calories matter, but what those calories provide is also a crucial part of healthy eating and weight loss.   We don’t need more saturated fat, sugar, and salt in our daily intake.  We need vitamins, minerals, and fiber! 

Furthermore, this “diet” is not something that you would want to continue for a long period of time.  A sustainable lifestyle could include Twinkies in moderation, but not as the majority of your intake.  A sustainable and healthy lifestyle includes two main principles: 1) eat balanced meals/snacks and 2) get daily physical activity! 

I like following the 90/10 principle better than a crazy fad diet any day.  Eat healthy 90% of the time and enjoy life the other 10%.  P.S. Right now I am enjoying life with my mini frostbite from Oberweis :) 

Photo courtesy of ata08.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

JeniBoo November 16, 2010 at 2:58 pm

Great post Brooker! I heard about this on NPR! How unfilling– twinkies and doritos?! Your stomach would be so empty! :)

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Brooke November 17, 2010 at 12:31 am

Hi Jeni! Thanks for leaving a comment :)

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Lauren Slayton November 16, 2010 at 5:29 pm

Well said. I think having the shake and vitamin is sort of like the Supersize Me guy having a couple meals a day portion controlled…then it’s not a twinkie diet. It’s so sad how many people heard about this which you have to think was part of the plan.

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Brooke November 17, 2010 at 12:33 am

Hey Lauren, Maybe the school needed some media attention or enrollment was low.

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Tammy Simons, MS, RD, NSCA-CPT November 16, 2010 at 9:35 pm

Amazing what it takes to get noticed in the media. It took this headline: Junk food: the new weight loss diet? To get this message to be shared in the media everywhere:

“He wants his experiment to prod his students to reexamine their own relationship with food. He doesn’t advocate a steady diet of junk food, but he doesn’t advocate abstinence, either. “Food tastes good,” he says. “Don’t be scared to eat things that are considered unhealthy, but limit them. Moderation and variety are the key to nutrition.”

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Brooke November 17, 2010 at 12:45 am

Hi Tammy, Thanks for stopping by! I saw that statement in the U.S. News and World Report too, but thought it was interesting he said, “Don’t be scared to eat things that are considered unhealthy, but limit them.” That statement goes against his “Twinkie diet.” Eating one Twinkie would have been moderation, not consuming 80% of total daily calories from them.

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Tammy Simons, MS, RD, NSCA-CPT November 17, 2010 at 8:19 pm

Hi Brooke, I know, there are many different ways of viewing moderation, and in this case, it was total calories, not calories from junk food, that was the experiment. The point of this class experiment was solely that you can lose weight if you eat less calories than you burn, no matter where those calories come from. The media can choose any headline they want, and unfortunately sensationalize all the rest of the story, just to get people to read it. That’s what bothers me the most. Media won’t print a story with the headline “moderation and variety are the keys to nutrition,” because that doesn’t get your attention like all the others have. At least it’s stirred up some very interesting and even conflicting conversations, huh?

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Brooke November 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm

Hi Tammy, You’re right about media coverage and it is sad; but people don’t want to hear the truth because it is boring. I also understood the point of the class, but how was that a “healthy” lesson for his students (pun intended) ?

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