The Cookie Diet is a weight loss plan that has been around for over 40 years. It claims to help people lose 11-17 pounds (5-7.8 kg) in one month by replacing meals with specially formulated cookies. The diet appeals to those who want to lose weight quickly while still enjoying sweet treats. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the Cookie Diet, exploring its principles, phases, potential benefits, and significant drawbacks.
What is the Cookie Diet?
Developed in 1975 by Dr. Sanford Siegal, a bariatric physician, the Cookie Diet was initially designed to help his patients control their hunger and adhere to a reduced-calorie diet. Dr. Siegal created the cookies in his private bakery, attributing their appetite-reducing effects to a secret blend of amino acids. Before becoming available online in 2007, the diet program was sold in over 400 medical practices in South Florida. The Cookie Diet is kosher and vegetarian-friendly but unsuitable for vegans, as well as those who must avoid gluten or dairy products.
How the Cookie Diet Works
The Cookie Diet consists of two phases: a weight loss phase and a maintenance phase.
Weight Loss Phase
The weight loss phase is based on the "10x formula." During this phase, you consume nine Dr. Siegal cookies per day, along with a healthy dinner consisting of lean meat or fish and vegetables. The eating plan is spaced out throughout the day as follows:
- Breakfast: 2 cookies
- Morning tea: 1 cookie
- Snack: 1 cookie
- Lunch: 2 cookies
- Afternoon tea: 1 cookie
- Snack: 1 cookie
- Dinner: 250 grams of lean meat or fish and vegetables
- Snack: 1 cookie
Each cookie provides 52.5-60 calories, and the dinner should provide 500-700 calories. In total, this adds up to approximately 1,000-1,200 calories per day. There are no strict guidelines on how to prepare the dinner, though it’s ideal to cook the meat and vegetables in a way that keeps the calorie content low, such as baking, broiling, roasting, steaming, or sautéeing.
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Dieters are advised to take a multivitamin supplement and drink eight glasses of water per day. Exercise is not necessary during this phase, as dieters are already in a large calorie deficit. However, light exercise, such as a 30-minute walk up to 3 times per week, is permitted.
Weight Maintenance Phase
Once you have achieved your weight loss goal, you can move to the maintenance phase indefinitely. The weight maintenance phase is as follows:
- Breakfast: egg and vegetable omelet and berries
- Snack: 1-2 cookies in between meals
- Lunch: 250 grams of lean meat or fish and vegetables
- Snack: 1-2 cookies in between meals
- Dinner: 250 grams of lean meat or fish and vegetables
- Optional snack: 1 cookie if needed
It’s encouraged to drink eight glasses of water per day and perform three 30-40-minute sessions of moderate to advanced exercise.
Potential Benefits of the Cookie Diet
Weight Loss
The Cookie Diet restricts calories, which should help you lose weight. On average, men and women need to consume 2,500 and 2,000 calories per day, respectively, to maintain weight. Reducing these daily amounts by 500 calories should contribute to an estimated 1-pound (0.45-kg) of weight loss per week. Given that the Cookie Diet provides just 1,000-1,200 calories per day, it should contribute to an even greater weekly weight loss. Some research has found that full or partial meal replacement plans may result in greater weight loss than conventional low-calorie diets.
Convenience and Cost-Effectiveness
The Cookie Diet is relatively cost-effective and convenient, as the cookies are pre-made and dinner is the only meal you need to prepare each day.
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Downsides of the Cookie Diet
Unnecessarily Restrictive
The diet does not factor in your specific nutritional needs, which are influenced by factors like your starting weight, age, height, or muscle mass. It’s highly restrictive and provides too few calories. For healthy and sustainable weight loss, it’s recommended that women eat no fewer than 1,200 calories per day, and men no fewer than 1,500. Given that this diet restricts calories to 1,000-1,200 per day, it falls below these guidelines. This significant reduction in calories may result in overall weight loss, but research shows it could likewise lead to significant muscle loss.
Reliance on Processed Foods
Another downside of the diet is that it relies on processed foods and multivitamins to make up for the lack of real food. Due to its restrictiveness, following the diet could make it difficult to reach your daily needs for nutrients like fiber, iron, folate, and vitamin B12. The best foods for weight loss and optimal health remain whole foods like vegetables, fruits, protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats, which are all nutrient-dense and have synergistic effects on your health. The maintenance phase doesn’t provide guidance on how to make healthy long-term dietary changes to keep the weight off without relying on the cookies.
Unsuitable for Certain Dietary Patterns
The Cookie Diet is unsuitable for people following a vegan, dairy-free, or gluten-free diet, as the cookies contain milk and wheat.
A Critical Look at the Claims
Dr. Siegal claims that his special cookies curb hunger because of their unique blend of amino acids. The diet recommends eating one cookie every two hours to keep the metabolism rate from slowing down, taking a multivitamin, and drinking the recommended eight glasses of water a day.
However, nutrition experts agree that very low-calorie cookie diets, when used as directed, can lead to weight loss. But research has shown that most people won’t stick with a very low-calorie diet for very long. People often revert to their old eating habits after becoming tired of the diet.
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James Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver, doubts that cookie diets give most people any useful practice in portion control, as they are too low in calories. He suggests that it’s unrealistic to expect people to control their portions that much over the long term.
Personal Experiences and Testimonials
Some individuals have reported positive experiences with the Cookie Diet. For example, one reviewer mentioned losing weight slowly but steadily and recommended the diet to others wanting to lose weight. James Pacella, an engineer for Procter & Gamble, lost about a third of his weight by adhering to the Smart for Life diet for seven months. He found the diet easy to follow and believed it empowered him to learn how to portion out his day to have smaller meals.
However, there are also negative experiences. Maria Masters, a Men's Health staffer, described her experience on the diet as dreadful. Ultimately, the real truth about Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet is that the cookies don’t even taste like cookies. One reviewer described them as being like a plain rice cake infused with slightly sweetened cocoa powder.
The Science Behind Appetite Suppression
Manufacturers of cookie diets claim that their products suppress hunger by using special ingredients, including certain amino acids and soy byproducts, or by prescribing small, frequent meals instead of three big ones, or by doing both. Dr. Sasson Moulavi, founder and medical director of Smart for Life, says a patent is pending on his appetite-suppressing blend of amino acids, fiber, and complex sugars. Larry Turner, president of the Hollywood Cookie Diet, says the protein and fiber in his cookies make them so satisfying that people often don’t even eat as many as the diet allows.
Soypal Cookies, popular in Japan, are designed to fill you up. Their crucial ingredient is okara, the soy pulp left after soybeans are processed into soy milk and tofu. Dieters are instructed to drink plenty of liquids with the cookies because, according to Winnie Shepardson, customer service support representative for Soypal, “When okara absorbs water, it expands two to three times its original size.”
A Word of Caution
It's important to note that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve or regulate weight loss products like the Cookie Diet cookies. This means there is no guarantee of their safety or effectiveness.