Modern 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 short term diets in which people are to lose a lot of weight, and are popular because of their claims of great weight loss. Often times, like the cookie diet, these diets rely on one miracle food with amazing properties for weight loss. In this sense they are something like the old traveling medicine shows, in which a slick talking salesman would expound on the virtues of some magical formula created by a Guru of some type.

The cookie diet came about as the result of research into natural foods done for a book in 1975. To maintain the cookie diet people would eat six cookies a day, plus a regular dinner. There were about 500 calories combined in the cookies, and the dinner could be 300 calories in the evening. People went wild over the cookie diet to the extent that 14 clinics opened in Florida. In the middle 1980s over 200 doctors were prescribing Dr. Siegel's cookie diet in their own practices. The diet was quickly expanded to miracle soups and shakes that also contained the amino acids.

There is another version of the cookie diet referred to as the Hollywood cookie diet because it became popular with many Hollywood stars. Stars and starlets made their use of the diet well known, which helped vault it to public attention. This diet is similar to the original in that it consists of a cookie for breakfast, a cookie as a snack in the morning, a cookie for lunch, a cookie as a mid-afternoon snack, and then a reasonable dinner. Each cookie contains approximately 150 calories, loaded with fiber, protein and 13 vitamins and minerals.

If you're 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.

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