p(left caption). Madonna’s new album “Hard Candy” debuts April 29.

Madonna’s husband, Guy Ritchie, went on the Cookie Diet, and subsequently stopped wanting to have sex with her. At least that’s what she told a Phoenix radio station recently. Cookie Diet creator, Dr. Sanford Siegal, says it’s the first time he’s heard that since he developed the cookies 33 years ago.

Madonna made her comments on the “The Johnjay and Rich Show.” “My husband went on that Cookie Diet, and it was such a turn-off because he didn’t want to have sex,” the Material Girl told the deejays. “He did lose weight, but he didn’t really need to lose that much weight. I think he did it because all his friends were doing it,” she said.

Dr. Siegal told The Food Channel, “My phone’s been ringing off the hook since this story came out. Kathi Lee Gifford did a piece on it for the TODAY Show that aired just minutes ago,” he told us at the time of our interview. We asked if the publicity has given the cookies a boost in sales. “Absolutely,” he says. “But we’ve treated 500,000 people in our medical practice since the cookies were developed 33 years ago and not once have we had anyone talk about suppression of sexual desire. In fact, just the opposite. But that’s not due to the cookies, that’s from the effect of the cookies. When you lose weight, you feel better, more confident, more vigorous. It’s funny, though. We’ve had some people ask after the Madonna comment came out, ‘Will these cookies really do that? If so, I want to give them to my husband,” he says with a laugh.

Dr. Siegal has been practicing medicine for nearly 50 years, specializing in the treatment of obesity. He created the cookies in 1975 as a hunger suppressant for his patients, and the cookies were an immediate success. Until recently, the cookies were made exclusively for his patients—plus family, friends, and other physicians he knew. About a year ago, his line of Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet cookies went retail. They’re now sold in a few mall stores and kiosks, as well as online at CookieDietOnline.com. There are five varieties: Oatmeal-Raisin, Chocolate, Blueberry, Coconut, and Banana. Dr. Siegal says Oatmeal-Raisin is the number one seller.

The cookies have many of the ingredients typically found in cookies: whole wheat, bran, rice, and so on. But he says it’s the special mixture of amino acids in them that acts as a hunger suppressant. “Hunger is still the main obstacle to losing weight,” Dr. Siegal notes.

We asked about how the cookies taste. Dr. Siegal, hesitated for a moment. “They’re good,” he said. “I’d be lying to you if I said they were as delicious as Mrs. Fields chocolate chips. But you’re not going to lose weight with Mrs. Fields.”

At age 79, Dr. Siegal shows no sign of slowing down. He still has a very active and busy medical practice in Miami, Florida, and, thanks in part to publicity generated by Guy Ritchie’s famous wife, a growing cookie business. The cookies are a hunger suppressant, Dr. Siegal says. They don’t suppress anything else.

The Madonna-Guy Ritchie cookie story certainly isn’t suppressing sales.