Nutritionist Does Twinkie and Steak Diet, Loses Weight

Sept. 30, 2010— -- It's either a kid's dream or a dietician's nightmare: nutritionist Mark Haub ate Twinkies and Nutter Butters, steak, milk, and a multivitamin for a month and lost 15 pounds.

Haub, an associate professor of nutrition at Kansas State University, wasn't indulging in this snack cake binge for kicks. He wanted to open up a debate for his students: as long as basic nutritional needs are met, is it what you eat, or just how much, that counts?

"I knew I could lose weight doing this, but I had no idea what was going to happen to cholesterol. That's why I made it only four weeks because I had no idea how it would affect my health," he says.

The thing is, he began to feel healthier. He had more energy, stopped snoring, and not only did he lose enough weight to drive down his overall cholesterol and body mass index (BMI), his good HDL cholesterol crept up two points and his blood glucose -- despite all that cream filling -- dropped 17 percent.

Haub began the experiment on Aug. 25, restricting his caloric intake to 1800 calories a day and keeping his physical activity the same, but with eating predominantly junk food: four to five processed snack cakes a day along with whole milk, canned or frozen vegetables, a multi-vitamin, protein supplement and things like chips and ribs.

The cholesterol changes were a surprise, he says, and he's pleased with the weight loss. But Haub is careful to point out that this was an experiment, not an attempt at to create an optimal diet. He wouldn't advise anyone to try it themselves because the long-term effects of this kind of eating are still unknown.

Nevertheless, he's extended the diet in a modified version until he loses eight more pounds and reaches his goal BMI. Once the diet has worked, he might cut back on the snack cakes, he says.

Diet experts, however, warn that the initial changes in Haub's cholesterol and weight could be deceiving. Losing 15 pounds will always make you feel healthier, they note, but over time, a diet rich in processed, sugary food is no way to improve health.

"He's not the first person to lose weight on an unhealthy diet. You could eat all chocolate cake and lose weight as long as you didn't eat too much of it. Staying on this diet forever and he'd have some unpleasant consequences," says Carla Wolper, a researcher at the St. Luke's Hospital Obesity Center.