Health Matters

Last week, nutrients took a horrendous left hook that might have left it a bit stunned. There was a previous post in this blog regarding it, and I wanted to take some time before responding and giving comments to it.

A Kansas State Nutrition Professor announced results of a 2 month diet that the media coined the "Twinkie Diet". In the two month period, this professor ate what was mostly convienance foods snack cakes, doritos, twinkies as well as one protein shake a day and some vegetables thrown in for good measure. It was an effort to prove to his students that weight loss was all about calories in vs calories out.

Those of us that are in the trenches of diet, health and exercise constantly face an uphill battle. Over and over again conflicting information seeps its way to a trusting and sadly undereducated public, who does not have the tools and knowledge to look at such studies and news reports with a critical eye. And for those looking for the easy way out or magic pill how the message is delivered is critical to battling  the number one issues in the health care crisis.....obesity. Critical details get buried or ignored in the reporting of such things.

So looking at the KSU professor's main hypothesis, does calorie restriction lead to weight loss? Was he successful in demonstrating this? Yes and yes. This is typically not a debated point, calories in vs calories out typically results in weight loss. Was his point proven? Yes.

Here is where I see a major problem, when the information is desseminated to the public. It is much like the Far Side Comic "What do Dogs Hear?" Like the comic below, people will not read that he limited

1800 calories. They will only see what the media highlights in the lead paragraph, "you can lose weight AND eat junk food." So much like when fat free cookies and ice cream came out, people will continue to overindulge because a KSU professor lost weight eating this way.

While his conventional wisdom biomarkers improved(BMI index, bad cholesterol went down, good cholesterol went up), he himself did not reccomend people eat this way. Again people skim through the article and select what they find to support and justify eating crap. His message, "In an effort to prove weight loss is about calories in calories out, I will eat junk food and restrict calories therefore I will lose weight." What people will hear " Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah EAT JUNK FOOD blah blah blah blah bhal blah LOSE WEIGHT"

While he lost weight, he was sadly deficient in nutrients. Supplementing with multi vitamins, protein shakes and "some vegetables" could not have produced enough nutrients that the cells need. Food quality matters, nature is the best producer of nutrients.

In the battle against obesity, weight loss is absolutely important and vital. However, weight loss at any cost is down right dangerous. In this ongoing war against obesity, rising health care cost, and high preventable disease rates, sustained weight loss and disease prevention are the keys.

A junk food weight loss diet is junk science. For us at CFWH we will continue on in the fight preaching proper sleep, real nutrient dense foods with calorie restriction, and proper exercise. We will be examples of fit healthy individuals fighting the good fight! Think critically when idiocy is reported.