Hollywood's fad dieters have turned to eating cookies to lose weight. The Cookie Diet, which was created in 1975 by Dr. Sanford Siegal, MD (known as the "Cookie Doctor"), has helped half a million people lose weight, according to cookiediet.com, the diet's official website. While the name may only sound appealing to children under 14 or people who would try a cabbage diet, it seems that Dr. Siegal's cookies are actually appealing to many and not without reason. The cookie diet regimen is supposed to make you lose one kilogram a week or more. The basic principle is simple: Consume fewer calories than you burn. But with the Cookie Doctor, fewer means 800—a controversially low number, especially for a dieter who is not under a physician's care. Most healthcare providers and nutritionists will tell you that it is unhealthy to dip below the 1200 mark, especially if you're doing it on your own, because it's likely you are depriving yourself of nutrients that could affect your health in other ways. But Dr. Siegal claims his cookies and vitamin supplements, along with the dinner dieters get to eat everyday, are more than adequate. The cookies consist of a mixture of oats, rice, whole-wheat flour, and bran, all of which provide amino acids in the form of hunger-suppressing proteins. You may be getting 500 calories worth of cookies per day, “but you're not going to get hungry,” the Cookie Doctor explains. And after all, the biggest problem for dieters is that cutting calories makes them hungry, which leads not only to extreme irritability, but also to irrational eating decisions like binging. A cookie diet patient receives a bag of six cookies to help them make it through the day. The cookies are to be supplemented with at least six glasses of liquids, including calorie-free coffee and tea and plenty of water. For dinner, the cookie dieter is expected to have approximately 170 grams of chicken, turkey or seafood and a cup of steamed or raw vegetables. This meal should be about 300 calories, while the six cookies equal about 500 calories. The total calorie intake for the dieter is around 800 calories. The cookie diet is not without its critics. Some ask if, after two months of the diet, the body get used to the unusually low calorie intake? Dr. Siegal says no. The Cookie Doctor says his patients are put through a structured maintenance plan, though many may fall by the wayside and gain the weight back once they return to a healthy 1500-2000 daily calorie intake. Others wonder what kind of healthy diet plan doesn't include an exercise regimen. “In the first week of the diet, I was tired, irritable and couldn't work out for more than 30 minutes,” says Sarah, a Heliopolis resident who experimented with the cookie diet. With Dr. Siegal located in Miami, Florida and his fan base growing internationally, it isn't surprising that cookiediet.com now offers worldwide shipping for the famous cookies, vitamins, and shakes. A week's supply of cookies in oatmeal raisin, coconut, chocolate or blueberry costs US$59.
