"fat free" food

My hubby's just come back from the supermarket and is throwing a fit now because he bought fat free yogurt by mistake. Normally, we buy full fat yogurt and milk (3.5-4% fat) because we thought that fat free stuff doesn't taste of anything. Plus, we think it's ridiculous the way some overweight people eat fat free yogurt but then go on to gobble down fast food (or poor tons of sugar into their fat free yogurt). I checked the nutrition info and it turns out you can save 100 calories per 500 gram tub if you eat fat free yogurt instead of normal one. 100 calories is nothing, especially seeing as your not going to eat a whole tub in one go anyway.
I tasted the yogurt and actually it wasn't too bad. But I still wonder how they make it stick together, seeing as their are zero saturated fats and only a trace of non-saturates in it. :confused:
What's your opinion about fat free foods?

Fat free food in general is a marketing scam, if you're afraid of calories you should be watching out for the processed sugar.

Also, if you take the fat out of the yogurt you're taking the best part out! I actually love the taste of unflavored/unsweetened yogurt.

thanks for your reply Orphan. Personally I'm not afraid of calories (right now I'm slightly underweight, anyway). But I had a house mate who would buy fat free cherry flavoured yogurt (with added sugar). Because of the sugar, it actually had the same amount of calories as plain full fat yogurt. Then she poured a heap of sugar in it. :confused:

It's not a scam. It's less calories and less fat. If you have a diet with a calorie and fat limitation, then this helps that quantity.

I eat fat free yogurt and don't find that much of a difference, especially if it's mixed with fruit. Pure skim milk is tasteless, so I usually go for either 1% or 2% milk.

By the way, diet alone is not a good way to lose weight. You need exercise.

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Originally Posted by Virgil

It's not a scam. It's less calories and less fat. If you have a diet with a calorie and fat limitation, then this helps that quantity.

I eat fat free yogurt and don't find that much of a difference, especially if it's mixed with fruit. Pure skim milk is tasteless, so I usually go for either 1% or 2% milk.

By the way, diet alone is not a good way to lose weight. You need exercise.

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In general though, the fat from those kinds of foods, yogurts and milk, is such a low part of a person's daily caloric intake that it makes little difference. I didn't mean it was a scam in the sense that fat has no effect, but in general sugar is the leading culprit in high calorie food. "Low Fat" and "Fat Free" labels are often applied to foods to help sell them as healthy, or low calorie, to unwary consumers who don't bother to check the amount of sugar those foods might contain.

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

In general though, the fat from those kinds of foods, yogurts and milk, is such a low part of a person's daily caloric intake that it makes little difference.

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That was my point, too. E.g. some people will only eat fat free yogurt but they might have a fatty/sugary lunch or dinner and never realize how much fat/sugar there's in it because hot meals in canteens etc don't come with a label on them. The calories that you save by eating fat free yogurt won't make up for the ones you take in by eating a fatty main course.

In true student fashion, I'll eat whatever is on special offer in the supermarket.

To be fair, with some things the taste is noticably different, and with others it's not. For example, Coke and Diet Coke, while both fairly revolting, have a different flavour. However, I'll be buggered if I can tell the difference between ordinary houmous and the fat-free variety.

So long as you eat in moderation, and are relatively active, you can really eat just about anything.

As opposed to fat-free, fully-skimmed milk, which is milk with the milk taken out. It tastes like something extracted from a diabetic mongoose. Admittedly, I only indulge in the full-fat stuff with cereals, when I'm on holiday, so I suppose I'm making a bit of an effort.

I was curious so I checked my yogurt. For 6 oz. the Fat Free, Light Yogurt has 100 calories, 0 Fat, and 15 grams of sugar; the regular has 180 calories, 1.5 grams of Fat, and 27 grams of sugar. Seems like a lot of extra sugar. I buy the fat free, the difference in texture is negligable and why waste 80 calories on yogurt?

I am under the impression that fat free often equates to added sugar or salt to compensate. No fat, lots of sugar more calories. I do buy lite milk though.

I don't have a particularly fatty yogurt in my fridge, but it's 4g of fat and 5g of sugar for 175g (a little over 6 oz.) and has 110 calories, mostly coming from the 20g of protein. Unflavored, no sugar added. I'm happy with that.

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

I don't have a particularly fatty yogurt in my fridge, but it's 4g of fat and 5g of sugar for 175g (a little over 6 oz.) and has 110 calories, mostly coming from the 20g of protein. Unflavored, no sugar added. I'm happy with that.

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I always buy a container of the plain intending to add fruit but I always just end up throwing it away when it expires.

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Originally Posted by papayahed

I always buy a container of the plain intending to add fruit but I always just end up throwing it away when it expires.

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I occasionally add fruit, but I like it plain.

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

I occasionally add fruit, but I like it plain.

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Well, Somebody has to do it I guess.:lol:

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Originally Posted by OrphanPip

In general though, the fat from those kinds of foods, yogurts and milk, is such a low part of a person's daily caloric intake that it makes little difference. I didn't mean it was a scam in the sense that fat has no effect, but in general sugar is the leading culprit in high calorie food. "Low Fat" and "Fat Free" labels are often applied to foods to help sell them as healthy, or low calorie, to unwary consumers who don't bother to check the amount of sugar those foods might contain.

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

That was my point, too. E.g. some people will only eat fat free yogurt but they might have a fatty/sugary lunch or dinner and never realize how much fat/sugar there's in it because hot meals in canteens etc don't come with a label on them. The calories that you save by eating fat free yogurt won't make up for the ones you take in by eating a fatty main course.

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Well, yes, it is a small part. Does anyone think that one low fat yogurt instead of a full fat yogurt is going to make a difference? But if you're trying to reduce your overall daily calorie intake by 10%, then a low fat yogurt is something like a 50% reduction from a full fat. That's big jump for a single item. Now if you could do that will all your meals. Look, a daily intake of 2100 calories is less than 2150 calories. Don't blame the low fat yogurt as a scam. Tell the dieter that he has to cut the calories across the board.

The low fat yogurt has less calories too, so I wasn't just referring to the fat.

To O-P's other point, I completely agree that sugar is a bigger culpret. Cut carbs first before protein and fat, and sugar carbs first among carbs.

I chose the first option because I was thinking that if you are going to eat some kind of packaged processed snack food, then you're better off getting the full fat version. I don't think the fat-free items are a scam neccessarily, it's just that I think sometimes people will eat more of the low-fat item then they would eat if they chose the full-fat item and take in more calories without realizing it. If you are fully aware of the serving size you're eating (such as with ice cream or low fat frozen yogurt) and you scoop out the recommended half-a-cup serving size, then yes it's better to eat the low-fat version. But, some people will scoop out 1.5 serving sizes because it's low-fat and consume more calories. Also, I think the full-fat servings satisfy the craving, whereas some of those low-fat items just taste weird.

Additionally, I think one should pay attention to the ingrediants list. I have started eating mostly all natural foods. The fewer words and letters there are in a single ingrediant, the better. Some of those low-fat/fat-free items have weird additives that cause digestion issues. :ack2: I have noticed that I am less bloated and sluggish with the all natural/organic foods. I was wary of it for the longest time but I was kind of desperate for some relief with my stomach issues. It's a little more costly but I shop the sales pretty much. So for someone wanting to be healthier, I would look into the overall health value of the foods you consume and not just the fat content.

They whipped out my gall bladder last March and for the 9 days I spent in hospital I was put on what they called a "fat & salt free diet". I went from 120 - 112.8 kilos. In fact I wondered at times whether it was a hospital or a health farm.

The regime was so strict: beakfast (boiled egg white & bread) / lunch (boiled fish or chicken, no skin with green salad) / dinner: an orange / drinks (water or tea, no milk, no sugar)

But, man does it work to get the weight down!

Ya, I've been on a liquid diet because of jaw surgery and I've lost 5 kilos almost. It's been 4 weeks though so it's not that drastic a weight loss, I'm sure I'll gain it all back in no time.

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Originally Posted by Shalot

Additionally, I think one should pay attention to the ingrediants list. I have started eating mostly all natural foods. The fewer words and letters there are in a single ingrediant, the better. Some of those low-fat/fat-free items have weird additives that cause digestion issues. :ack2:

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I know right. I saw low sugar orange juice at the market and I was all :confused:. How do you take sugar out of fruit?? I checked the ingredient list and it was all chemicals barely any juice. :puke:

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Originally Posted by papayahed

How do you take sugar out of fruit??

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That's a good question, I always wondered about that. Seems unnatural.

My dad once bought fat free sour cream. The taste was okay, but the texture was all wrong. Instead of being creamy it was kind of splintery.

6 oz of fat free yogurt has like 70 calories less than the same amount of low fat yogurt. at least the kind i eat. so it makes a big difference. and the fat makes a lot more difference than the sugar because it's so much more calorie dense. i always eat fat free when i can, it tastes just fine (usually) and saves me calories :)

Good subject, because this is not easy: Who could possibly keep tabs on what is in our food without turning it into a full-time task? There are worse things than fat. I read the contents however, and shy away from the products with the most E-numbers (additives currently permitted in food within the European Union and their associated E Numbers).

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Originally Posted by Virgil

carbs first before protein and fat, and sugar carbs first among carbs.

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Agreed.

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Originally Posted by papayahed

I checked the ingredient list and it was all chemicals barely any juice. :puke:

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Exactly. E-numbers again . A list of what they really are and what they are used for is very interesting, albeit a bit frightening. Some of them are necessary, but others... Well... I will not bother you with a list of what each one does, but if you want to know what they are for you can have a look here: What additives do. It makes you wonder what the food would look and taste like without them, doesn't it?

/Claes

Thanks for the list Claes.
I've heard a lot about mono sodium glutamate lately, because it seems to be in everything. What kind of chemical is it though? What is it that makes it unhealthy Is it like a salt?


I compared the fat free and a full fat yogurt again yesterday and I find the fat free one taste disgusting by comparison and the texture is all wrong, too.

Monosodium glutamate is a salt form of glutamic acid (glutamate), glutamic acid is a common amino acid found in proteins, but it's not usually found unbound to other amino acids in food.

Glutamate happens to be the amino acid that triggers your taste buds which respond to high protein food, so your brain interprets MSG as having a savory flavour. It's found naturally in high concentration in cheeses, soy sauce, and a lot of other fermented foods where bacteria are breaking down protein.

There's no strong evidence that it's dangerous in normal amounts for people. The main worry is that your body is very efficient at absorbing glutamate directly into the blood (glutamate happens to be used by your body for transporting amino acid components between cells, your body breaks extra protein down into glutamate, and then glutamate is further broken down to produce energy), so there is evidence in mice that high levels of MSG in the blood can cause brain damage, but it appears that in humans this doesn't happen.

Mostly, I wouldn't worry about it, there is no evidence that it actually hurts people.

thanks for the explanation, Pip. I was just wondering about it because I know some hippie/eco people who avoid any food containing MSG. Probably they just don't like it because it's not "natural".

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Originally Posted by SleepyWitch

I've heard a lot about mono sodium glutamate lately, because it seems to be in everything. What kind of chemical is it though? What is it that makes it unhealthy Is it like a salt?

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I found this:

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Originally Posted by the UK Food Guide

Flavour enhancers: Are used widely in savoury foods to make the existing flavour in the food stronger. Monosodium glutamate is an example of a flavour enhancer. Salt is commonly used as a flavour enhancer for food and has been identified as one the basic tastes. Ironically, given its history, this has resulted in large sections of the developed world ingesting salt massively in excess of the required intake, particularly in colder climates where the required intake is much lower. This is believed to cause elevated levels of blood pressure in some, which in turn is associated with increased risks of heart attack and stroke.

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/Claes

I probably should of specified, I was speaking of the glutamate part of the MSG, which is what people normally get up in a fuss about. Sodium itself is certainly overrused in food, and has well documented health risk if consumed in excess. High level MSG inevitably means high levels of sodium, of course.

MSG in moderation will do no more harm than a bit of table salt (sodium chloride) in moderation.

That was excellent O-P. I was going to add the high sodium that goes with MSG, but you got it in too. :)

I'm not a huge fan of the "fat-free" products on the market, but I think it is more generally towards the "diet" products. I buy low fat dairy only because I prefer them. I can't drink whole milk or even 2% because it is too viscous. It's just too thick for me, so I drink 1%. I also buy lowfat yogurt, but that is a texture thing for me too. I don't like super runny yogurt, but I don't like it so thick that it feels like it is coating my mouth.

As for the merit of buying low fat or no fat products, mostly I think it is just silly. It's much simpler to watch what you're putting in your mouth. I eat a diet heavy on lean meats and vegetables. I eat lots of fruit, cheese, yogurt, etc. If I'm craving sweets, I freeze one of my yogurts. I buy the Yoplait Whips, and they're amazing if you freeze them. It's a great substitution for ice cream. It also doesn't hurt to puree up fruit and freeze it into a granita. I try to avoid things that are over-processed or fried and I skip soda and favor water and tea with no sugar instead. It seems to work out pretty well for me. While I'm not super skinny, I easily maintain my weight, and a good exercise routing 3-4 days a week would have me dropping pounds. The only down side I find in eating healthy is that I notice it much more if I miss a meal. I eat 5-6 small meals or snacks in a day, and if I miss one my hands will shake and such because there really isn't a reserve of food or calories to burn. Other than that though, it is pretty good.

Yes, I use fat free foods because it's helpful for the weight loss purposes
I use more raw veggies foods and organic foods rather than fats, and junk foods for maintaining a good healthy weight.