Cookie Diet
In the world of fad diets almost nothing can be more absurd than the cookie diet. This diet is based on a mixture of amino acids baked into a cookie designed to control a patient’s hunger.
Fad diets are intended to help people lose a great deal of weight in a short period of time – they are popular because they appear to be miracles. Most fad diets center on some super weight loss food, much like the cookie diet centers on the cookie. They are usually sold by a series of wild claims, much like the old pitch men pitched in the traveling medicine shows.
Sanford Siegel created the cookie diet in 1975 while he was doing research for a nutrition book. To maintain the cookie diet people would eat six cookies a day, plus a regular dinner. All told the daily caloric intake was about 800 calories. Very quickly the cookie diet became a huge success, with 14 clinics in Florida and 10 in Latin America expounding this amazing weight loss formula. By the 80’s 200 doctors were pushing the cookie diet. It was at this time that shakes and soups were added to the mix, these also containing the amino acids that control hunger.
Later Hollywood grabbed the cookie diet. This diet received a great deal of media attention in part because of the PR efforts of attention grabbing stars and starlets. This newer version of the diet included four cookies and a dinner. The four cookies allowed on this diet consisted of a combined 600 calories and various vitamins.
If you are thinking of the cookie diet take Donnie Brasco’s advice – forget about it. Eat less, exercise more – that’s the formula for good health. Even if the star of your favorite movie claims to love them, avoid so called miracle weight loss foods.
