[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/llvlcshow/llvlc424-mark-haub.mp3[/podcast]
Dr. Mark Haub, Kansas State University nutrition professor and creator of the Twinkie Diet project, is today’s guest on The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show with Jimmy Moore!
You may think the concept of a “Twinkie Diet” is a bit of quackery by a fly-by-night diet book author, but what if it was done by a low-carb researcher? What if you learned that the diet was highest in fat, not carbohydrate? What if the whole point of the project was not to lose weight, but to serve an educational purpose?
You might still think the person behind the headlines is a madman, but that’s why Dr. Mark Haub (a co-researcher with Drs. Eric Westman and Jeff Volek) is here today to talk about the real intent, process and results of his admittedly unhealthy Twinkie/Little Debbie Diet project that has made a big splash in the national news the past couple of months.
ALSO: Don’t forget to check out our sponsor for today’s show, The Low-Carber’s Survival Guide, for a special discount for fans of the show!
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE 424
– Support our sponsor: The Low-Carber’s Survival Guide (use $9.99 COUPON CODE: 8U751106)
– Mark Haub bio
– CNN story on Haub’s “Twinkie Diet”
– Haub’s 2005 collaboration study with Dr. Eric Westman, Dr. Will Yancy and Dr. Jeff Volek called “Insulin resistance from a low carbohydrate, high fat diet perspective”
– Mark Haub on Twitter
– RELATED BLOG POST: “Did Kansas State Nutrition Professor Dr. Mark Haub Really Go On A Little Debbie Snack Cake Diet?”
Great interview, Jimmy! A couple of things I noticed:
Toward the end of the interview, it seems as if what he is saying is that we can eat whatever we want, as long as we pay attention to portion control. Because he teaches a class on Energy Balance, I guess I should not be surprised to find that he goes by the old standby of Calories In Calories Out. He assumes that if a person eats the “right” amount of calories for their activity level, that they cannot help but lose weight, and he uses himself as an example. No mention of hormones, sleep, stress, medications, illness or any other of the many things that can affect weight loss, maintenance or gain.
Also, when you asked him about what he thought of “Fat Head”, it appears that, even though he says he watched it, he came away from the movie having missed the main point of it – that Morgan Spurloch was dishonest about his results, and that he did not eat what he said he ate, and that Morgan blamed the high fat nature of the diet for his weight gain.
Dr. Haub just lumped Tom Naughton in with the others who are showing that you can lose weight on a fast food diet.
He also makes no mention of all of the research in “Fat Head” that shows the health of eating high fat and low carb.
Overall, I was not overly impressed with what he had to offer the low carb community. I was interested to hear what he had to say, it’s just that it satisfied my curiosity, but did not add to my knowledge.
Rebecca
Very personable guy. Read elsewhere that prior to the twinkie stunt that he was eating the standard high carb, low fat nonsense encouraged by the establishment. This regimen of course led to inability to control weight and constant hunger. Then, he eats nothing but junk and loses weight. More than anything, is proves that almost anything is an improvement on the food pyramid, maybe even pseudo foods.
The disconnect from the relevance of long-term insulin control, not just on weight control but on aging in general, is disappointing. Yes, many can lose weight through calorie restriction, however, it’s not sustainable and ignores larger issues of inflammation, free radical production and in the case of about half the population, the very real possibility of Type 2 Diabetes.
Interesting stuff Jimmy. Does this change your feelings on why you choose a low carb lifestyle?
No, it doesn’t change much about my own personal low-carb lifestyle. Just interesting.
Great interview. Lets us know what the man was actually up to.
I’ll lash out on the extra carbs with the abundant strawberries from the garden lately, dumped on whipping cream covering my beautiful wife’s no sugar blackcurrant muffins. Why would you eat a twinkie, anyway, really?
I don’t think Haub was making any pretence that what he was doing was sustainable.
The takeaway message I got was that it’s really important to analyse results in metabolic context. If people are in weight gain mode then reversal of this by any means is likely to improve blood markers, at least in the short term.
For low-carbers the implication seems to be that if you’re going to “cheat” on the odd occasion you had better keep the portion really small.
I love Twinkies with strawberry preserve on top.