Are fat-free, artifically sweetened products ripoffs?

eclare87

I just blogged about reduced-fat peanut butter and regular peanut butter discoveries. (Read my blog post here if you are interested: http://www.yorkblog.com/smart/2012/04/12/duped-by-reduced-fat-peanut-butter-how-to-find-the-best-peanut-butter-for-you/)

Looking at the facts it has kind of made me wonder if there are other fat-free, low-fat, artificially sweetened food products I should avoid. What products do you guys think are worth it or not?

Currently I eat a lot of fat free Greek yogurt, fat free ice cream, fat free cottage cheese, fat free cheese, etc.

Pandorian

I certainly believe so...

I use full-fat and flavour versions of my favorite items... I can achieve the same 30% reduced fat claim for mayo without having to use the altered ingredients / taste junk that they sell... I just use 30% less of the original product.

Fat being "Evil" is so 90's, just like eggs being evil is so 80's, now it's carbs which means even fruits and veggies get lambasted when it's the processed carbs... oh here let me take everything from the wheat and make white flour that I'll "Fortify" it by adding these vitamins and minerals back.. that it likely had before they stripped everything from it making it white flour instead of whole-wheat.

steadk

fat free yogurt and cheese only has to do with how much fat they take out during the process. That I do not believe is a rip off, unless however your yogurt has aspartame in it which many do. I make my own low fat yogurt which is all natural. its amazing the difference in taste. As for processed foods, then yes i think they are a rip off, not to say that i haven't grabbed something whilst short on time.

wilberfamily

After my twins were born I lost 101 pounds dieting eating fat free/sugar free foods. I kept it off for a long time. Unfortunately it definitely has an impact on digestion and satisfaction to eat this way for long. I have been doing MFP since January and lost 21 pounds and I'm eating "regular food" I tend to eat reduced fat dairy and cheese products but not fat free. The taste and satisfaction are so much better than the fat free versions and I actually feel better doing it.

heathercrist1

When one "bad" for you thing is removed (ie. fat) they just replace it with something (usually worse) in its place (ie. sugar, processed junk you can't even pronounce). I'm a true believer that FAT doesn't make people FAT and that it is sugar and processed junk that does. I'd say stick with the most natural versions of foods (usually full fat ones) and nix the processed food. Isn't it ironic how back when people used to cook with lard and eat full fat foods people were much smaller then they are now that everything is fat free...?! Just a thought.

Batchoy

We avoid everything marketed as low-fat/fat free/artificially sweetened where they are versions of a higher fat/sugar product rather than being naturally low-fat/fat free/sugar free. The biggest issue I have is the what the manufacturers add to maintain the flavor whilst lost due the reduction in fat, often this is salt and as we don't add any salt ourselves and haven't done so for years we can taste the salt in the product. As Pandorian say I would rather use a third less full fat mayo than using the full amount of 30% less fat mayo and consume 100% more salt.

weathergirl320

When one "bad" for you thing is removed (ie. fat) they just replace it with something (usually worse) in its place (ie. sugar, processed junk you can't even pronounce). I'm a true believer that FAT doesn't make people FAT and that it is sugar and processed junk that does. I'd say stick with the most natural versions of foods (usually full fat ones) and nix the processed food. Isn't it ironic how back when people used to cook with lard and eat full fat foods people were much smaller then they are now that everything is fat free...?! Just a thought.

Right on! I use lard for most of my cooking. I have lost 38 lbs since December by eliminating all the low fat processed crap and eat natural full fat stuff!

eclare87

Thanks for the thoughts guys! So do you feel like you eat less all around by eating full fat foods? I'm worried I will go over my calorie allowance by doing that. That's one reason I like to buy fat-free, when I notice there is a big calorie difference.

Pandorian

funny thing on fat and protein... it's filling. When I eat it I know I've eaten, where the "reduced fat / no sugar added" etc stuff leaves me peckish for more of said stuff... which can easily add up to more calories than if I'd just had some fat in the first place.

wilberfamily

funny thing on fat and protein... it's filling. When I eat it I know I've eaten, where the "reduced fat / no sugar added" etc stuff leaves me peckish for more of said stuff... which can easily add up to more calories than if I'd just had some fat in the first place.

I totally agree with this statement. I can be satisfied with what I ate more easily if I eat the real thing than if I ate the reduced fat/sugar stuff. This time around I do a lot less grazing and searching for volume food by being more satisfied by what I am eating.

eclare87

What about skim milk? It does seem like there are some products that are no-fat and are actually healthier?

econut2000

I eat nothing low-fat except dairy....and even then there are some exceptions! Read the ingredients lists of anything regular compared to the low-fat versions.....it's disgusting! There's tons of chemicals, sugar, fillers to make it taste as close to the original that they can!

Pandorian

Even milk I opt for homogenized or whole milk.. I'll get cream at 33% milk fat...use it when I really want to indulge in some real taste with berries or shortcake etc.. but my coffee or tea is consumed black.

Other folks will make other choices but full fat and flavour choices, IE the natural product is what I'm going to choose when it's available.

Batchoy

I use skimmed milk, but then again for mashed potatoes and scrambled egg you can't beat using real butter for flavor.

I do think that the body looks for the carbohydrate hit to go with the sweetness in foods, and as a result you end up seeking out calories when you eat artificially sweetened food.

Rather than sweetening tea and coffee with sweeteners give up drinking sweetened tea and coffee all together. My mother weaned us off sugar when I was little: for a period of three months there was no sugar put on the table and we hated it, then it was put back and we added sugar to our tea. To a person we all spat it out in the sink, I have never drunk sweetened tea or coffee since.