Low fat or regular?

lkcuts

Just curious as i tend to not stick with one or the other and would like some input on your thoughts. As long as you stay within portions does it really matter if its low fat ie mayo, sour cream, milk and cheese and wheat bread. It seems low fat adds more sodium and I try to balance the carbs,sugar, sodium as much as I can per day. I hate low fat cheese it doesn't melt well and is tastless. i use low sugar/fat whole grain bread and tolerate it. Do you feel that these low fat type products help to lose weight or can we eat full fat foods with in our portions and still lose weight? I of course prefer regular for the flavor. For instance I made coleslaw with low fat mayo and truvia for its sweetness in the dressing and it got real watery after sitting a few hours in the fridge. things like that. Light butter makes my diet toast soggy.. tomatoes on diet bread makes it soggy and fall apart.. Whats your feelings on the subject?

LoraF83

I'm personally not a fan of low-fat foods - because they usually have added sugar, sodium, chemicals, etc in order to make them taste good. I'd rather have less of the real thing than more of the altered low-fat product.

Fat doesn't make you fat - excess calories do. So, as long as it fits in your macros, you can eat it (full-fat or not).

stfuriada

I'm a binge eater on some foods, and with those, I use the non-fat versions just so I don't end up consuming more calories than I should.

Some things, the non-fat variety just blows. Like you said, fat free cheese texture is just weird, but I tend to eat a lot of cheese, so I compromise and use 'reduced fat' or '2%' .

I personally believe every little bit helps, so in the places/foods where I can help my weightloss efforts, you bet your butt I'm gonna take it! :bigsmile:

pattyproulx

Full-fat FTW! Keeps me full much longer and is generally lower in sugar and/or sodium (and other non-foods they often add to increase consistency or taste).

Also, sometimes they seem to just add water. So you end up paying the sane price for the product, and you just get less product and more water for the same price.


Edit: And that's not even getting into the taste!

mhuch110

I often have a hard time eating all of my calories so I don't worry about fat free everything....I need the calories in the full fat versions of cheese and milk! As long as you have the room in your calorie count, why not?

Sunny_Sunflower

They say that low fat foods are actually detrimental to weight loss....look up on livestrong and Dr Oz.

carrieo888

I'm personally not a fan of low-fat foods - because they usually have added sugar, sodium, chemicals, etc in order to make them taste good. I'd rather have less of the real thing than more of the altered low-fat product.

Fat doesn't make you fat - excess calories do. So, as long as it fits in your macros, you can eat it (full-fat or not).

THIS!

Eat REAL foods (real sugar, real butter, whole grain breads...) and you'll consume less of the garbage your body doesn't need. You'll be full longer and will crave garbage less.

carriempls

Everyone needs some fat in their diet.

Saturated and particularly hydrogenated fats are what you want to be conscious of. Not (necessarily) cut out, but be conscious of. There are some studies that show animal-based fats are linked to higher rates of disease, but other folks will tell you that's hooey. I'll leave that one for you to research and decide.

If you can fit full fat versions into your calorie counts they will not impede your weight loss. Go for it.

KKrdcs

I personally worry about all the junk that they are putting into the product to make it 'low-fat'. I have a gluten allergy and need to read labels all the time, and it has made me realize how much preservatives and chemicals they are putting into products so that the label can read "low-fat or fat-free".
I have switched back to real butter, and watch what cheeses I buy (not always full fat), keep an eye on all of the salad dressings I eat, and read the labels on multiple products and pick the ones that are most natural, since I think that way it is easier for your body to recognize and break down. For example, the other day I bought kidney beans for chili, and one product had 10mg of sodium and the other had 500mg/serving!! Makes a huge difference on your diet I think. The more natural and normal state it is in, the better.

rocket_ace

I've given alot of thought to this recently. Particularly in regard to milk products (Milk, yogurt, etc). for quite a while I think the common agreed thinking has been that, while whole milk tastes better (creamier), low fat or even fat free is just healthier - all the protein and not all the fat. Recently, my eyes have been opened to how this actually happens (and I'm only midstream on research so take it with salt grains) - but what I understand is that the fat from milk is extracted through use of high pressure/temperature industrial processes. This "processing" may actually harm the milk (not only taste, but similar to how burning something denatures the natural compounds, the physical trauma to the milk may cause harmful side products). Many if not most of the natural healthy compounds and vitamins in milk were actually in the fat, so those are lost. To make up for it, the manufacturers re-introduce vitamins/compounds into the milk (how such compounds/vitamins are themselves manufactured, artificially or otherwise, varies). So, in order to save us from "fat", we are actually eating a very very processed product. To add insult to injury, I've read that there are not many studies actually linking the fat in whole milk to high cholesterol or other health problems (there's of course alot of conflicting research on cholesterol). Lastly, if you look at the nutrient stats of Fat free, lowfat, and whole milk (and I'll add another category for extra protein-fortified low fat milk like Over the Moon....which is fortified with the addition of separately processed whey and milk solids), the low fat milks have much higher sugar content.

So what I've taken from this is - I think whole milk is healthier (and definitely tastier). It has all the natural goodness of real natural milk (I try to avoid "ultra" pasturized varieties, as my current goal #1 is to try to reduce the amount of processed food I eat, in whatever form it may take...although I am too lazy to go full born non-homogenized, non-pasteurized....). In a pinch I'll drink whatever kind of milk (even skim) since its still better than most other beverages, but my preference is whole milk. I also eat alot of yogurt (I like greek more....and in this case I have more flexibility on low fat...but I'm still thinking this through). I also like Kefir - which I think is the single most healthy thing you could consume.

The reason the fat doesn't scare me is that I otherwise don't have tons of fat in my diet. The little I get from olive oil, nuts, or the occasional egg is just fine. Avoiding fat (just for the sake of calories in otherwise healthy foods ) is dumb in my humble opinion.

I reserve judgement to others on real meat products, as there is more issues there and I'm not a good reference.

lkcuts

By most of the answers i see "regular" wins by far now just being able to adjust them to my diary. I too am trying to eat more fresh as much as possible. I didnt know that about the beans. I know pork and beans are high in sugar etc. think If i eat beans I will buy in a bag , soak and cook them that way. for my chili etc. I have started watching lables and will look a little closer between the brands.. THANKS SO MUCH for everyones in put. now I won't feel guilty when I log real butter! I will say ,american cheese is high in sodium so I use it sparingly. I love cheese but think i will research which ones have the highest cals and best ingredients along with taste. thanks again!

TheVimFuego

If I see 'low fat' on anything I instinctively recoil, I don't even bother looking at the ingredients.

Fat is flavour, out bodies need fat. Combine 'em with too many carbs ('too many' for you) though and that is where the trouble starts IMO ...