Katy Perry Dressed Up as a Cheeto for Halloween

"It ain't easy bein' cheesy"

Really this blog post doesn't need anything more than a headline and photo to be complete, but I thought I'd do a little research on Cheetos today in honor of Katy Perry's tribute to the crunchy cheese-flavored snack puff that makes our favorite orange human John Boehner look downright pale.

First, here's a picture of Katy Perry dressed up as a Cheeto:

And here's a picture of John Boehner (hint: he's the one on the right):

As you already suspect, Cheetos is by no means a health food, nor is its relationship to cheese anything but tangential.

In case you wondered, a typical 1 cup serving of Cheetos has 310 calories, 26g of refined carbohydrates and only 3g of protein.

That's a lot of empty calories and carbs just to end up with orange fingers.

If you are like most people, you'll enjoy a nice insulin rush as those refined carbohydrates try to find a place to hide in your body. Unless you run a mile right after ingesting your Cheetos, most of the carbs will likely end up as triglycerides in your fat cells, along with the carbs from the Cheerios you ate for breakfast.

Some schools have banned Flamin' Hot Cheetos, claiming they are addictive. According to a media round up article in the Daily Mail, "Each bag of Flamin' Hot Cheeots has 22 grams of fat, 500mg of sodium and 320 calories. Many children say they eat four bags a day -- including for breakfast.

"Nutritionists say the snack's mix of fat, salt and spiciness makes it 'hyperpalatable,' even addictive.

'You can almost equate the craving (for processed food) to that of cocaine,' Gene-Jack Wang, a researcher in Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, told the Chicago Tribune."

But enough Cheetos bashing. An occasional handful won't kill you immediately provided most of your diet is relatively clean and low carb.

The Cheeto actually has a colorful history, causing the marriage of Frito and Lay in 1961 (the company is now owned by Pepsi). It was the first popular cheese-flavored snack puff and is still the leader of the pack, racking up some $4 billion in sales as of 2010.

Other countries have unique flavors of  Cheetos you will not find in the United States, such as Strawberry Cheetos in Japan (dipped in frosting) and Zesty Japanese Steak in China.

Perhaps the most fun fact about Cheetos is that sometimes they get distorted in the manufacturing process and morph into other shapes. According to that dubious source Wikipedia, a Cheeto shaped like Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk dance sold on eBay for $35.18 in 2009. Another Cheeto shape shifted into Jesus and became the first snack food to be named Cheesus.

As for Katy Perry, she reportedly wore the Cheetos costume to Kate Hudson's Halloween party as a tribute to the solace she found in the snack after her split from Russell Brand.

"'There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth of my marriage where I was like, 'OK. All right. I can't feel this. This is too intense right now,'" Perry told Marie Claire. " I was, like, just eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that's it."

You can purchase Medifast replacement meals directly from Medifast Centers, the Medifast website or -- for less cost -- through the co-branded website of a Medifast TSFL health coach. Medifast does not recommend purchasing its products from third party vendors, but if you choose to do so, you can find them on both Amazon and eBay.

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More from Diet Skeptic:

Fruck You! Fructose

Can You Drink Alcohol on Medifast

Medifast Centers Vs. Take Shape for Life

Planned Exceptions: What Is Your Pie Policy?

Wabi Sabi Dieting & Renee Zelwegger's New Face
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