Dr Siegal's Cookie Diet

Eat cookies and lose weight! That is how Dr Siegal’s cookie diet can be best expressed in a single sentence. As the name indicates, the cookie diet was founded by the Florida based thyroid specialist, Dr Sanford Siegal, almost three decades back. And, in over these years, this ‘one meal a diet’ program has garnered the confidence of thousands of people whom it had helped to lose those extra pounds from around their waists. If to believe Mr. Siegal himself, the cookie diet could bring about a reduction of 15 pounds every month. But, is this a diet program a health proportion that is devoid of side effects? In order to find an answer to this question, let us first see the composition of Siegal’s cookies.

Dr Siegal’s diet cookies are specially made to be distributed through his clinics. Even though, its exact constituents are not known to anybody, experts say that they are high on low glycemic index components such as oatmeal and whole meal flour, and contain a specially prepared amino acid mixture that is known to suppress the appetite. In layman’s language, what Dr Siegal’s diet cookie does is virtually the same as what most weight loss diet plans does to the human body – suppress the appetite, thereby curbing the dieter’s instinct to eat more. According to Dr Siegal’s diet plan, the dieter should follow a ‘one meal a day program’, the meal strictly being the dinner, and during the daytime, his/her food is limited to six diet cookies, which the dieter is supposed to eat whenever he/she feels hungry. In other words, there is no definite time table for eating the cookies. But, eat only when you are hungry and not more than six cookies is allowed per day.

However, appetite suppression is not the only thing that Dr Siegal’s diet cookie does. It is a medically supervised cookie that is very low in its calorie content as well. In other words, six cookies a day plus the dinner only add up to 800 calories. So, its effect on the human system is two fold – it suppresses the dieter’s crave for food and limits the daily calorie intake to 800. And according to critics, it is exactly where the problem lies.

With this energy supply to the body, it is nearly impossible to assume that the body will get all the minerals and vitamins it needs or recommended by the RDA. Even though, Dr Siegal puts vitamin supplements as a solution to this short come, according to nutritional experts, still it cannot make up for the amount of vitamin supply to the system through a healthy diet. Then there is this argument that the cookie diet also falls short in terms of carbohydrates as well as fibers, which is are vital for healthy digestion. Dr Siegal seems to agree with the fiber issue, but he counters it by saying that the cookie diet is not a permanent diet, but something to discontinue after the weight loss is achieved. He himself had conceded that the cookie diet is not a healthy proportion if used forever. Finally, Dr Siegal’s cookie diet program does not recommend any workout regime to follow in order to complement it. This underlines the fact that his diet plan brings about weight loss only through deprivation and not by burning down the excess fat. This is in not at all an advisable and healthy method for shedding weight in any counts.

So, if to conclude on the merits/demerits of Dr Siegal’s cookie diet program, it can be said as both a quick fix method and a dangerous weight loss alternative. It is a quick fix because, by depriving the body of calories, fat, and other minerals and vitamins, it brings about sudden weight loss in the dieter. Secondly, it is dangerous because the cookie diet is not that healthy to the human system owing to the reasons discussed above. Hence, think twice before embracing Dr Siegal’s cookie diet program for weight loss.