Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET(R) Available Under Medical Supervision in New York City Exclusively from Prominent Weight-Loss Physician and Bestselling Author Howard Shapiro, D.O., M.D.

NEW YORK, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Siegal's Direct Nutritionals, LLC, the global distributor of Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® brand products, today announced that it has begun supplying its products to the New York City medical practice of obesity expert and bestselling author Dr. Howard Shapiro. Dr. Shapiro is the only physician in New York City to whom Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® products are supplied.

"I'm convinced that people who diet under a physician's supervision have the best results, and I'm excited to have Dr. Howard Shapiro as Manhattan's sole medical provider of Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® foods and six-cookies-a-day weight-loss approach," said Dr. Siegal. "New Yorkers will appreciate the convenience of having a weight-loss expert like Dr. Shapiro supervise them as they lose weight with the help of Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® cookies and shakes."

This is not the first time that Dr. Shapiro has used Dr. Siegal's foods and weight-loss program in his practice. For several decades starting in the late 1970s, Dr. Siegal supplied his products to hundreds of his fellow physicians, including Dr. Shapiro. Then, in 2002, Dr. Siegal stopped supplying individual doctors and began supplying a single diet center franchiser that operated under various names including Siegal Smart for Life Weight Management Centers. That relationship ended in 2006. Dr. Siegal's products are available once again through individual physicians.

"I used Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® cookies and regimen in my practice in the 1980s and my patients did well with it," said Dr. Shapiro. "I'm happy, once again, to be able to offer Dr. Siegal's products and diet as a treatment option for my patients."

Dr. Howard Shapiro's office is located at 14 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022 (212-935-5333, www.drhowardshapiro.com).

Dr. Sanford Siegal developed the concept of a diet based on a hunger-controlling food in the early 1970s while writing a book about substances in food that are particularly satisfying of hunger. Based on his research, he engineered a formula to curb hunger and enable his patients to stick to the low-calorie diet that he advocates. After several years of experimenting in his family's kitchen, Dr. Siegal produced a particular mixture of amino acids that resulted from the combination of certain food substances. He baked his formula into a cookie and gave it to a few patients. Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® was an overnight success. Shortly thereafter, he created his shake mixes which, when added to water and ice in a blender, produce a cool, hunger-controlling beverage. By the mid-1980s, his Miami-based medical practice had grown to include 14 clinics and he was supplying his cookies and shakes to hundreds of other physicians.

In 2007, Dr. Siegal and his son, Matthew Siegal, the company's CEO, began offering their cookies, shake mixes, and other products directly to consumers through www.CookieDiet.com (which has more than 120,000 members).

Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® is among the most talked-about weight-loss brands in North America and has been profiled by hundreds of media including Good Morning America, Today Show, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, People, and Entertainment Tonight.

Although copycat products have recently appeared, Dr. Siegal's original cookie-based diet continues to command a nearly 100 percent share of voice in the press. Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® and Sanford Siegal, D.O., M.D., are perpetually in the news. Recent stories include:

ABOUT DR. SIEGAL'S COOKIE DIET®

Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET® is a 35 year old, profitable, 100% debt-free, family-owned business comprising several companies with corporate locations in the Miami, Florida, and Washington, DC, metro areas. Under license from Dr. Siegal's SM Licensing Corporation, Dr. Siegal's Direct Nutritionals, LLC, operates the web site CookieDiet.com (over 120,000 members) and distributes products directly to consumers.

SOURCE Dr. Siegal's COOKIE DIET (CookieDiet.com)