Ever heard of the Twinkie diet?
You probably haven’t because it wasn’t a fad, but an experiment was done by a professor to prove to people that it all comes to your calories when it is weight loss.
A professor of human nutrition by the name of Mark Haub at the University of Kansas state wanted to prove to people that no matter what you eat if you stay in a deficit, you will lose weight,
The idea was to show that even if you have just sugary foods of any kind, you could still lose weight because again, you are in a deficit and pure calorie counting is what matters the most, not the nutritional value of the food.
Of course, nutrition matters but overall, it is how much you consume because even if you eat sugary foods, in a deficit, your cholesterol, blood work, and visceral fat will all decrease causing you to lose weight and drop bodyfat which we know reduces the risk of many diseases.
So, for a class project, Haub limited himself to 1800 calories a day which was a bit of a drastic cut. Supposedly a man for his size should have been consuming 2600 calories. But we know that is up for debate as no one individual consumes the same number of calories. Nor would I ever recommend someone to drop that many calories at once but for the sake of that argument and this story, let’s say that he did need 2600 calories.
His body mass index went from 28.8 to 24.9. he dropped from 200lbs to 174lbs in two months, his LDL cholesterol, which is your bad cholesterol dropped 20 percent, and his HDL cholesterol, your good cholesterol increased by around the same amount. People generally think, that if he’s eating sugar, that causes fat? how would his cholesterol decrease? Because sugar is a simple carbohydrate that has a low-calorie count of only 4 calories per gram. Sugar in itself does not make you fat. it’s gotten a bad rap over the years and is a myth that it alone causes weight gain.
But speaking further on fat, he decreased his triglycerides which is another form of fat by 39 percent.
So Haub said this to his class and asked them, even with all the reductions does this mean he’s healthier? Or does it mean we define health just from a biological standpoint and we're missing something?
Along with this, he said he also drank a protein shake daily and also took one multivitamin daily.
Not the bottom line of this is, was this the healthiest diet? No, it wasn’t. But was it effective? I guess you can say that because of the amount of body fat he lost. So, to a degree it was effective.
So, what’s the purpose? As long as you are in a calorie reduction you will lose weight. It doesn’t matter what you eat, you will lose weight if you eat less than before. And although he lose weight and all his bodily fats decreased and even decreased his bad cholesterol, you should still add in vegetables just for the reasoning that your body needs them to function properly.
The best method is to slowly decrease calories every week so you can sustain the weight loss. You don’t want ghrelin to come in too much because then you will most likely relapse and binge eat and gain your weight back. And while you are dropping calories you want to eat vegetables and other nutrient-filled foods with them.
But the bottom line is, that you can still lose weight while eating some of your favorite foods that don’t have nutrient-rich sources and still get into a healthier state. It comes to calories in versus calories out. Stay in a deficit and you will drop the weight.
Disclaimer: Adam is not a doctor nor a nutritionist. This is all from the experience Adam has gained through himself and through schooling. Through his videos, Adam shares his personal and educational experience that he has acquired over the past years of training individuals through fitness and nutrition. Adam would strongly recommend you see your physician before starting or completing any exercise program. You should be in good physical condition to participate in the exercises which are why consulting your physician would be recommended.
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