A nutrition expert has taken a very unorthodox path towards weight loss and cholesterol reduction: he's on an all-junk food diet.
And so far, the diet consisting of Hostess Twinkies, sugary sweet cereal and Little Debbie cakes -- mixed in with a few low-calorie veggies for dinner -- appears to be working.
Mark Haub, a professor of nutrition at Kansas State University, has lost 13 pounds, his bad cholesterol levels have dropped and his HDL, or good cholesterol, has improved.
"Some indicators of health seem to be moving in a direction that is recommended," Haub told CTV News Channel.
That may sound surprising, considering his daily diet.
Breakfast consists of a snack cake such as a Twinkie, sugary cereal with milk, and coffee. Lunch is pretty much the same thing, followed by an afternoon snack of more Twinkies and cakes and maybe a hotdog or some Doritos. Then for dinner, it's low calorie veggies and milk, followed by a dessert or snack before bed.
"I'm on a one-man crusade to reduce obesity and I'm doing so through food that is deemed as unhealthy," he said.
Haub is trying to find out whether weight loss by a seemingly unhealthy means is still healthy overall.
"If markers of cholesterol are good as indicators of heart health, is hitting those values in a range that seems health via food that seems unhealthy, a good way to go?" Haub asks.
He also wants to challenge the traditional view of energy and fuel sources for the human body. If someone were to get their nutrients from a supplement, for example, and get their energy from junk food, could they still be healthy?
The study still has a week to go and he isn't sure yet. But Haub cited Dr. David Jenkins, the Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Metabolism, who maintains that any weight loss for obese people is a step in the right direction.
Haub is consuming fewer calories than he would need to maintain his pre-study weight, which is likely the reason his junk food diet is working.
Most people who gorge on junk food are unlikely to practise discipline in how much they eat, likely matching or exceeding their required intake -- therefore maintaining the same weight or packing on more.
Haub isn't advocating for the Twinkie diet just yet, however.
"I think there are many ways to achieve weight loss, this might be one if it suits somebody's lifestyle," Haub said. "I don't recommend it, I don't promote it, but it's an examination into (the fact) there is more than one way to achieve the path to weight loss. And this is one."
