In the past few years it has been hard to miss the advertising from Kellogg for the
Special K Challenge since it’s everywhere. Kellogg introduced Special K cereal in the US in the 1950’s and in recent years the Special K product line has expanded to include multiple cereal flavors, cereal bars, meal bars, snack bars, fruit crisps, granola bars, crackers, chips, protein shakes and protein water mixes. Special K has gone from being from just a cereal to being part of a weight loss plan. The Special K Challenge claims you can lose 6 pounds in two weeks by replacing two meals and two snacks with Special K products and then eating one regular meal. You are also encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables throughout the day. The Special K diet enables people to lose weight by providing portion and calorie control. The diet is meant to help jumpstart weight loss or to help people that just need to lose a few pounds. It is not designed to be a long term weight loss program. According to Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, the director of nutrition for WebMD, experts agree that there is no harm in using the Special K diet for a couple weeks to transition into a more balanced weight loss plan. It may also be good for people to skip breakfast because eating breakfast can play an important part in being successful in controlling weight. There are some problems that experts see with the diet. The Special K diet does not provide any guidance on exercise or building long term healthy eating habits. The Special K diet can also be high in carbohydrates and low in fiber and protein. Kellogg did recently introduce a Special K Protein Plus cereal that provides 10g of protein per ¾ cup serving. However, with other products being lower in protein and fiber dieters may tend to be very hungry while on the diet and could be tempted to overeat. One example of where a person could follow the diet but still overeat would be on the third meal where there is freedom in the foods that can be eaten. To help dieters make more healthful choice during their third meal Special K provides recipes on their website www.specialk.com. I did find it nice that they provide the options of easy, adventurous, and vegetarian recipes. The website allows you to create a free online profile where you can track weight loss progress, share stories, and get suggestions of what to eat for each meal and snack for each day of the two week diet. I found two things really interesting while playing around on the website. First I noticed that if a person was to follow the meal and snack suggestions exactly as given a person would consume between 1200-1300 calories per day. 1200 calories a day is usually the lowest a health professional would recommend consuming. The second thing I found interesting was that the Special K instruction page on their website says that a person can drink beverages like normal. I thought it was strange that there was no suggestion of limiting or cutting out high calories beverages. Too many sugary drinks like soda could hinder weight loss. This is an example taken from the Special K website of what you would eat in a day on the Special K diet: · Breakfast Special K® Original Cereal Breakfast with Milk and Fruit Morning Snack Special K™ Fruit Crisps: Strawberry Lunch Special K™ Honey Almond Protein Meal Bar Lunch AfternoonSnack Special K™ Multi-Grain Cracker Snack Dinner Grilled Salmon with Leek Risotto Dinner A serving of cereal on the diet is usually ¾ to 1 cup with ¾ cup of nonfat milk Overall, the Special K diet has easy to follow instructions provides some freedom in food choices, and while it may not be the most nutritionally balanced diet it does not seem to be quite as dangerous as some of the other fad diets out there if it is followed only for the intended two weeks. References: www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-special-k-challenge www.mayoclinic.com/health/speical-k-diet/AN02094 www.speicalk.com
1 Comment
Lynette
3/4/2012 09:10:11 am
Kimberly,
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AuthorHello! My name is Kimberly Rogers and I am a Dietetics student at Kansas State University. ArchivesCategories |