Fat Free/Sugar Free-- Good or Bad?

kirby34puckett

I have read that fat free and sugar free is the way to go. It cuts calories and also eliminates fat and sugar from the food. However, I've also read that things labeled fat free and sugar free are a "chemical **** storm". I was just wondering which was right and if I it's alright to eat these things or to steer clear.

Thanks in advanced!

drmerc

Avoid the pitfall of separating foods in to good or bad

Cranktastic

meh

Firefox7275

Are you talking about real foods with one or two ingredients or processed stuff with a long list of ingredients? Plenty of real foods are naturally low in fat and/ or low in sugar but aren't labelled as such, its impossible to go completely sugar and fat free because there are small amounts even in fresh vegetables and lean meats. The body needs a certain amount of fat for health and for weight management, there are plenty of higher fat healthy foods, such as oily fish, nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut, cocoa, olives.

cmcollins001

Avoid the foods you don't like and don't avoid the foods you like.

Losing weight is surprisingly simple....eat less calories than you burn in a normal day and you WILL lose the weight. That's all Weight Watchers does with their points, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem...and all those other fancy food programs where they do all the calculating and all the work.

Fat free/Sugar free isn't good or bad. True, things less in fat and sugar are less in calories, but if you have the calories to spare or you have made room for the calories, then eat it.

Cupcakes, pie, ice creams, cookies, waffles....are all yummy...why would you want to give them up?

cwolfman13

I agree with pretty much everyone else here...you do too much no fat/low fat and you will not be getting enough fats and probably deficient in the protein department as well; these are necessary for good nutritional health and well being. In RE to sugars, I do splurge every now and then on simple, processed sugars, but I try to get most of my sugars from fruits and vegetables rather than candies, sodas, etc.

I'd focus more on your macros in general and adjust according to what you're trying to accomplish...if you want to lose weight, it's all pretty simple as cmcollins stated...just have an appropriate caloric deficit. If you want to get lean and build muscle, you need more protein and obviously weight training.