As schools continue to ban soda and chocolate milk in an effort to get kids to eat better, CNN now

As schools continue to ban soda and chocolate milk in an effort to get kids to eat better, CNN now reports on the Twinkie diet that helped a Kansas man lose 27 pounds. A sweets-filled diet, including Twinkies, Oreos and Doritos helped 41-year-old Mark Haub, a professor of nutrition at Kansas State University, possibly prove that calories-in versus calories-out is all that really matters when seeking the holy grail of weight loss.

Mark Haub limited himself to 1,800 calories a day. He ate Twinkies or another treat every three hours instead of meals, also consuming a protein shake and some vegetables over the course of the diet. A traditional Twinkie is only 150 calories making Haubs snacks low-calorie, albeit devoid of nutrients.

Haub lost weight, but does this mean that he is healthier? Well, actually, after eating junk food for 10 weeks his LDL, considered the bad cholesterol, decreased, while his HDL, or good cholesterol, increased by 30%. And he reduced his triglycerides by 39%. This suggests that losing weight alone will improve the health of an obese person.

We do not advocate a Twinkie and Oreo diet, and neither does Haub. However, his experiment could prove that these junk foods are not inherently fattening and that a person can become obese even eating healthy food. Portion control matters so check this handy visual guide to proper portion sizes and read up on 19 weight loss secrets that we’ve collected from around the world. Plus, there are many low-calorie snacks you could eat every three hours with flavor and more nutrition. Check out this collection of 5 healthy snacks for 100 calories and 10 fast food snacks under 200 calories.

The bottom line is to not eliminate your favorite foods from your diet. Cut calories and exercise to lose weight.

Read the full article from CNN: Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds.