Professor Mark Haub of Kansas State University is my personal hero and new diet sensei. Over the last few decades we have seen all kinds of theories that propose that not all calories are the same. Thus we have all kinds of diets that allege that fat burning is about what you eat, not how much you eat. Professor Haub has now debunked all of that.  For two months Mr. Haub ate a twinkie every three hours. He also added a variety of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, along with Doritos, sugary cereals and Oreos. In other words, he ate Satan’s diet.  But he limited himself to 1800 calories a day, about 1,000 calories under his base weight stabilized calorie requirements.

So what happened? He lost 27 pounds, his BMI (body mass index) is now in the normal range, his “good cholesterol” increased 20% and his “bad cholesterol” decreased 20%, his triglycerides decreased 39%.

So what conclusions can we draw from this experiment.  I draw three conclusions:

1) Calories are the only thing that really matter in weight loss.

2) Bad fat levels in your blood are more a factor of your obesity than your diet.

3) If we believe that bad fat blood levels are a significant predictor of heart health, then obesity is a much bigger factor than diet.

Until I read this story, I believed in the myth that not all calories are the same. Now I have lost my faith.

To comment on this post, click on the title, or email the author dennis@healthjag.com