What should be a fairy-tale day -- a woman's wedding -- could turn into a nightmare for a bride-to-be who goes on a new feeding-tube diet to lose 20 pounds fast, says a Baylor University professor and a former chair of a public policy committee for the American Dietetic Association.

The diet of about 800 calories a day for 10 days has a potential to be even more harmful and less long-lasting than the so-called liquid "starvation diets," of fewer than 1,000 calories a day -- far below standard recommended weight-loss diets, said Suzy Weems, Ph.D., chair of Baylor University's family and consumer sciences and a consulting dietitian who has worked for hospitals and extended-care facilities. Most recommended diets call for a combination of exercise and eating that create a 500-calorie deficit from normal needs.

Some doctors -- over the vigorous protests of others -- have promoted the diet as a quick, hunger-free way to shed pounds by delivering protein, fat and water through a nasal feeding tube.

"It seems very extreme because of its potential for infections and irritation," Weems said. "It seems to be illogical to do this for one fairy-tale day when most brides have plenty of time before their weddings to lose weight in a healthy way. The long-term solution to maintain a good weight is eat right and exercise."

What's more, healthier diets provide "more energy for intimacy," she said.