The answer is yes and no...it depends on what you care about most. And asking one question, will help determine the answer. Let me explain further.
Last month Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, made headlines when he did a weight loss experiment and dropped 27 pounds in two months on his "convenience store diet," which consisted mainly of Twinkies, diet soda, chips, brownies, and Corn Pops. However, not all was gas food station like food, he did eat things like baby carrots, celery, and cans of green beans in front of his kids so that he wouldn't set a bad example to them.
The point of Haub's experiment was to show that only calories matter when losing weight and that the quality of those calories really don't matter.
Now, I am not a doctor nor am I any kind of trained professional in health or nutrition. So, what I'm about to say is strictly from the point of view from an observer and someone who has a history of yo-yo dieting, an eating disorder, recovery, and now is one who chows vibrantly for healthiness (health + happiness.)
Losing weight is not rocket science.
From a purely formula standpoint, losing weight = take in less calories than the body needs...create a deficit - either through calorie restriction, exercise, or a combination of both.
So, Professor Haub created a deficit for his body by cutting down his daily caloric intake from about 2,600 calories to less than 1,800 calories per day which is about an 800 calorie difference or almost 1/3 a pound. (3,500 calories = 1 pound). He only changed caloric intake and made no changes in physical activity.
Skinny does not equal healthy
Calories are the only thing that matter from a perspective like this, "Lose weight and become thin...no matter the means. I just want to be skinny." The focus is being slim not overall healthy. Yes, being thin can be a sign of healthiness, but it is not an automatic. How so? Here's some examples.
- You can be thin and still have a high fat to muscle ratio.
- You can be thin and have chronic disease like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease tied to what you consistently eat.
- You can be thin yet malnourished.
- You can have an eating disorder to maintain that thinness.
And yes, you can lose weight by drinking shakes, going on special weight loss diet programs, taking pills, ingesting pregnancy hormone, getting the fat sucked out through liposuction, or eating Twinkies, Cheetos and junk food. All of these means are options for calorie restriction or in the case of liposuction, literally removing fat straight out of the body.
Many of us have tried these options, including myself, and have seen the results we wanted...weight loss.
However....
An important question to ask is this...are any of these options sustainable for the long term? This is where the answer to the question, "Are calories the only thing that matter?" is No.
The most important part of weight loss is not actually losing of the weight, which many are convinced is the hard part. No, in actuality, the most important part is keeping the weight off...for good! AND coupled with feeling good.
No where in Haub's experiment did he note how his body felt. You can lose weight and be thin yet feel like crap all the time. The quality of your life starts to suffer because you feel lousy and not vibrant. As an example, in my early 30's, I tried diet pills, and yeah I lost some weight but I felt like I was on speed and there were times when my heart felt like it was racing way too fast. I almost went to the hospital once because it got so bad that it scared the hell out of me. In fact, because of that experience, I decided I'd never take diet pills again.
There are many people who drop weight, get thin and have absolutely no energy. They look like zombies. And are they happy? I can say for myself, I've had many periods where I got thin but still felt miserable.
Saying calories only matter is also like saying any guy/gal will do for marriage. Technically, if you just want to be married, yeah, any guy/gal will do. Marriage is two people joined in legal union (again technically)....happily ever after is not automatic or a given. But, if you want a happy marriage, a quality union that fulfills you, well then the type of guy/gal will matter.
In professor Haub's experiment, he proved that he could lose weight in two months using caloric restriction primarily eating junk foods. He did show that his bad cholesterol dropped and that his good cholesterol rose. Haub proved that this diet worked for "his" body.
Haub didn't prove that his "Convenience Store Diet" was sustainable at keeping the weight off long term which I would say is at least a year and beyond...that would require longer experimentation. He didn't include whether he felt more energetic and better than before the diet.
And yes:
Haub's "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, dropped 20 percent and his "good" cholesterol, or HDL, increased by 20 percent. He reduced the level of triglycerides, which are a form of fat, by 39 percent.
However, cholesterol is not everything, nor is BMI or fat. Overall wellness is a much broader picture than this. To get a better overview of Professor's Haub's Diet, I created a broader nutritional informational chart of the sample day listed in the CNN story. On his Facebook page, Professor Haub created a similar chart, but it's kind of hard to read, so I made a nicer one. We both used Livestrong.com and our numbers are close but not the same... his sodium number is higher and my sugar number is higher.
What about the sugar?
According to the Mayo clinic, and their nutrition and healthy eating guide, most of Professor Haub's numbers are technically within recommended range except for sugars and the % of carbs from added sugars. I say technically because we're only looking at nutrition numbers and not nutrition quality. To note, Haub did not list anywhere his vitamin and mineral intake which is important to know in overall wellness.
The American Heart Association reccomends that most American men should consume no more than 150 calories (or 9 teaspoons) a day from added sugars. Professor Haub consumed 120g of added sugar which is 466 calories (or 28 teaspoons... 1 tsp of sugar = 4.2g). The sugar from the milk and carrots are not considered added sugars. The % of carbs from added sugars in his diet amounts to about 93%.
Just to give you an idea of how much sugar Haub was eating, one liter (34 oz) the big bottle of Coca-Cola contains 108g of sugar leaving him with 20g of sugar left which is basically a Twinkie (at 19g). Yikes! And more importantly, any medical professional is going to tell you that consuming this much sugar on a regular basis is in no way a healthy way to live.
The body adjusts
Haub did note his Glucose levels and it dropped during the experiment: Glucose: pre=94; wk10=75 which frankly, I found shocking given how much sugar he had been consuming. But ok, it's data and in his body, glucose dropped in those two months. However, what's to say that after four months or seven months of eating this diet, that his glucose rises. Perhaps his body initially reacted with a drop, but then in time it adjusts.
The body does adjust which is why many people when yo-yo dieting find that the same plan doesn't work the same the second or third time as it did the first time. The body learned and adjusted....over time.
And again, according to Mayo Clinic, there is no health advantage to consuming any amount of added sugar and too much added sugar can lead to health problems like tooth decay, poor nutrition, weight gain, and increased triglyceride levels, boosting your risk of heart disease.
Maybe he's an anomaly
In Haub's case, he didn't gain weight and his triglycerides dropped, but also consider this fact, everyone knows at least one person who can eat whatever they want and gain nothing. Many of us secretly envy these type of people and maybe Haub is one of those people who can eat anything he wants. The majority of people are not built this way.
Some people are just genetically designed a certain way. As an example, many supermodels are picked from Brazil because they have a genetic look that is desired by the fashion industry...and the rest of us no matter how much we try, just cannot look like those women.
One diet does not eat all
I give Professor Haub credit for being experimental. I do food experiments all the time, and it's good to see what works or doesn't work for your body...and again this experiment was for his body alone. To give this experiment more legs, let's put two dozen or a hundred people on this diet. Have them eat the exact same food Haub ate for the exact amount of time, and see what happens then.
I would bet money you'll start seeing differing results because not all bodies react the same even to the same foods. The results from one person doesn't prove anything for a whole or a majority. Yes, Haub's experiment proves that weight loss on a junk food diet can be done...in the short term. What would happen to his body however, if he did this diet for six months to a year?
The Convienence store diet may work for one man but it doesn't mean it will work for all. If that was the case, then the South Beach, the Paleo, the Skinny Bitch, the McDougal, the {insert name of diet program} would work for everyone...and long term.
And I don't care, no one can convince me that eating a Twinkie is better for the body or creates a health advantage than eating an equivalent caloric amount of meat, fish, vegetables, grains, nuts, or fruits....foods made by Mother Nature. And just because you can do something, doesn't mean it's good for you. Let's look at smoking and drinking just to name a couple. There's a difference between moderation and all the time.
Another perfect example of one does not eat all, the milk industry wants everyone to believe that milk does a body good....and for many milk does work well in their body. But, for millions of Americans with milk allergies or are lactose intolerant, milk actually does a body harm.
The key is long term, sustainable results!
And lastly, one of the social elements that glaringly (at least to me) was not dived into more depth in Haub's experiment report was his need to hide what he ate from his kids. The thing that stuck out immediately to me in this experiment was the fact that Haub made sure that his kids never saw the junk foods he ate and that they only saw him eat the "good" foods like carrots and green beans because he didn't want to set a bad example to them.
Okay, in my book, once there is a level of shame, guilt, or embarrassment attached to eating, we're now stepping into disordered eating territory and/or creating unhealthy relationships with food. If this Convenience Store diet is fine, then Haub should have absolutely no problem or issues eating like this in front of his children or anyone else for that matter. Again, his experiment proved that the junk food diet could work in weight loss, but it didn't include complete honesty at home, and that is important for sustainability.
Because why then all the secrecy with the kids? Perhaps because as a father he knows that his diet is in no way healthy for his kids because the foods lack nutrients, quality, and sustainability. Perhaps, he also knows that children learn from what they see their parents do. How can he say no to the kids if they want to eat nothing but Twinkies, brownies, chips, and diet soda like they see what their dad is doing?
So, are calories the only thing that matter in weight loss? The answer depends on the overall picture you want to create for your life and health.
