"Lite" vs Normal

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    CrescentVolf wrote: »
    Hey all!

    So, I went grocery shopping today and picked up ingredients for taco night. As I reached for the reduced fat sour cream, since I'm trying to be healthier I turned the cup to read the nutrition facts (something I'm still getting used to).

    I was so shocked! There were so many ingredients with weird crazy names... I grabbed the normal sour cream and read "low-fat milk, cream, enzymes", then threw it in my cart vowing to always read labels, even (especially?) on "reduced", "low", and "lite" products...

    I'm curious to hear others opinions. Do you still go for the lighter option? Or like me, prefer limited ingredient? :)

    That's odd...I usually buy Daisy sour cream and the only difference between the regular and light is skim milk.

    But really, it depends on the product...there's nothing inherently unhealthy about a full fat product...but often I'd rather spend my calories elsewhere...sour cream would be one of those things...we have it a lot and usually do the reduced fat and frankly, I can't really taste much difference. I also prefer non-fat Greek yogurt
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    Guess im the only one who eats the light versions! Marg, cream cheese, mayo, milk, halumi and feta and reduced sugar in beans! Oooh yoghurt, zero fat total is my gospel!
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    CrescentVolf wrote: »
    I'm curious to hear others opinions. Do you still go for the lighter option? Or like me, prefer limited ingredient? :)

    Both. The lowfat sour cream I buy doesn't have a lot of additives. I think the ingredients are the same as regular except for the fat content. Same with fat free yogurt. There are brands that have a lot of additives, but I just buy the brand that does not. I don't care for full fat dairy except for some cheeses. I bought low/no fat even when I was gaining weight.

    But, I do buy "diet" versions of some things and yeah, some have more additives. It's a really small percentage of my diet overall so I don't worry about it.
  • ClareMillsRoberts
    ClareMillsRoberts Posts: 28 Member
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    It depends on the product and if there is a huge difference in taste or big calorie saving. I like the Hellmans light mayo and Lurpak light spreadable butter as I really can't tell the difference to the full fat versions. I use semi-skimmed milk and 0% fat yoghurtas they are items I eat/drink a lot of on a daily basis and I don't mind the sacrifice in flavour. I've tried a couple of reduced fat cheeses but I don't think they are worth it flavour and texture wise so I just use a strong regular cheese but less of it. Light cream cheese and cottage cheese is nice though. I've just started buying the reduced sugar and salt baked beans too but have yet to try them, figured they'd be a lot healthier than the regular kind.
  • juliebowman4
    juliebowman4 Posts: 784 Member
    edited September 2016
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    My daily calorie goal is fairly low (1200-1400) so 30 calories here and 20 calories there can make a huge difference.
    Many times though, instead of deciding between regular or light, I'll see if there's a completely different alternative. (Eg-mustard on sandwiches instead of mayo.)
    But often, I'll go for quantity ....I want 'more' simply because I need to get creative to stay within my calorie goal and be satisfied
  • not_my_first_rodeo
    not_my_first_rodeo Posts: 311 Member
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    Other than reduced sodium, I almost always go for the full-fat versions of things. It seems to help with satiety.
  • Golbat
    Golbat Posts: 276 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I just get regular sour cream. There isn't that much on a taco. You might as well have something that tastes good. Plus, as someone said above, fat helps you feel full. And low-fat isn't necessarily lower in calories. Sometimes foods have added sugar to keep low-fat things tasting good.
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
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    Fat Free/Light/Reduced Sugar reads to me = Chemical Shitstorm
  • divcara
    divcara Posts: 357 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I agree - usually prefer getting the regular version that has real ingredients than a lighter version of chemicals and artificial things and crap I can't pronounce. I always look at the grams of sugar too. So many times the lower fat or fat free version has so much more sugar in it. I'd rather just get the regular one and use a smaller portion.

    I will opt for sugar free things when possible, but I try to watch the sugar alcohols and substitutes as well for many reasons, including how they can mess with my stomach.

    And if I get ice cream, I'm getting my Talenti and the real thing. :)
  • juliebowman4
    juliebowman4 Posts: 784 Member
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    I'm reading all this and getting the impression that regular version= real food and calorie reduced = fake food.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    CrescentVolf wrote: »
    Hey all!

    So, I went grocery shopping today and picked up ingredients for taco night. As I reached for the reduced fat sour cream, since I'm trying to be healthier I turned the cup to read the nutrition facts (something I'm still getting used to).

    I was so shocked! There were so many ingredients with weird crazy names... I grabbed the normal sour cream and read "low-fat milk, cream, enzymes", then threw it in my cart vowing to always read labels, even (especially?) on "reduced", "low", and "lite" products...

    I'm curious to hear others opinions. Do you still go for the lighter option? Or like me, prefer limited ingredient? :)

    In my house we rarely opt for the reduced fat version. I'd rather have full-fat/regular sugar variations and just work them into my macros.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    Golbat wrote: »
    I just get regular sour cream. There isn't that much on a taco. You might as well have something that tastes good. Plus, as someone said above, fat helps you feel full. And low-fat isn't necessarily lower in calories. Sometimes foods have added sugar to keep low-fat things tasting good.

    Yes sometimes they do add sugar when fat is removed because that's what reduces calories:

    Fat = 9 calories per gram and tastes good
    Sugar = 4 calories per gram and tastes good
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    juliebowman4 wrote: »
    I'm reading all this and getting the impression that regular version= real food and calorie reduced = fake food.

    not necessarily....

    IDK what sour cream the OP was using or looking at...I use lite sour cream all of the time and the only difference between that and the regular is they use skim milk. I eat non fat Greek yogurt all of the time as well...there's nothing "fake" about it. I also drink 1% milk...nothing fake about that either.

    There are many "diet" foods that do add additional ingredients (usually sugar) to make up for the lack of fat, but dairy doesn't tend to be one of those foods which is why I'm a bit surprised by the OP.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    I generally choose normal because low fat usually has added sugar. So, in addition to removing the satiating fats, they add the hunger causing (for me) sugars.

    I *sometimes* choose lower fat... part skim mozz is one example. But rarely.

    The only low fat products that I even ever seem to notice are dairy, and NONE of them have added sugar because of being lower fat. (Flavored yogurt obviously has added sugar, but not because of being low fat--the same is true for full fat flavored yogurt.)

    I guess I just don't purchase these products that people are talking about with the lite versions with added sugar.

    Since the main low fat products I buy tend to be dairy, egg whites (which rarely buy, but have on occasion), and some cuts of meat (like ground beef that's 95% lean), I am always puzzled when people say that low fat = added sugar. With salad dressing or such that's probably true, or cookies if low fat cookies are still a thing, and I am sure other things, but with these other common products it's not, and I don't think my buying habits are that weird (I do make my own dressing and pasta sauce, of course), and like I said, it's not an issue with the products I buy (even seeing "lite" versions is unusual).

    Anyway, the real reason I posted was to address the idea that there's a ton of stuff in light sour cream.

    I pulled up information on a major brand (Daisy) and see this:

    Ingredients in regular: cultured cream.

    Ingredients in low fat: cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate

    Nothing that seems all that weird or bothersome, IMO, and certainly no added sugar.

    Depending on the use, I might use low fat, I might use regular, and if I'm not baking with it but using it with potatoes or some such I'd probably use 0% Fage greek yogurt, which I like as well or better and which hits the same spot.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    When talking about lite versions, does this include the 0% yogurts? I sometimes buy this chobani 0.5% yogurt.

    Ingredients: Skim milk, Live yogurt cultures.

    Per 100g:

    57 calories
    9.7 protein
    4.2g carbs

    Ingredients and macros change dramatically, usually for the worse when they combine flavoured and lite.

    This is the lite sour cream ingredients at my store.

    Ingredients: Reduced Fat Cream, Halal Gelatine, Sour Cream Culture.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Yes, I would think light refers to low fat/skim dairy, as that's a MAJOR portion of the low fat product sold and what OP started with, and yes, IME, it doesn't have added sugar or other ingredients.

    I like it as well as full fat (well, unless we are talking cheese or butter), and prefer to spend my dairy/sat fat calories on, well, cheese or sometimes butter or maybe some less lean meat.
  • CrescentVolf
    CrescentVolf Posts: 87 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    juliebowman4 wrote: »
    I'm reading all this and getting the impression that regular version= real food and calorie reduced = fake food.

    not necessarily....

    IDK what sour cream the OP was using or looking at...I use lite sour cream all of the time and the only difference between that and the regular is they use skim milk. I eat non fat Greek yogurt all of the time as well...there's nothing "fake" about it. I also drink 1% milk...nothing fake about that either.

    There are many "diet" foods that do add additional ingredients (usually sugar) to make up for the lack of fat, but dairy doesn't tend to be one of those foods which is why I'm a bit surprised by the OP.

    I was using a store (Harris Teeter) brand, as it was on sale. I will take a look at Daisy sometime. :)
  • GinaMarieG27
    GinaMarieG27 Posts: 29 Member
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    CrescentVolf wrote: »
    Something useful-ish for me is it is difficult for me to detect flavor changes between, say, Sprite and Sprite Zero. So I could go for the lighter option, but I guess I prefer more wholesome if there is a more wholesome alternative (I realize with soda and diet soda, neither are wholesome lol)

    You should go to www.foodbabe.com and you will learn everything you need to know about this topic.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Much better source for information on diet soda: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    Foodbabe is basically not a good source for anything.
  • Golbat
    Golbat Posts: 276 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    Golbat wrote: »
    I just get regular sour cream. There isn't that much on a taco. You might as well have something that tastes good. Plus, as someone said above, fat helps you feel full. And low-fat isn't necessarily lower in calories. Sometimes foods have added sugar to keep low-fat things tasting good.

    Yes sometimes they do add sugar when fat is removed because that's what reduces calories:

    Fat = 9 calories per gram and tastes good
    Sugar = 4 calories per gram and tastes good

    It can work that way, but it doesn't necessarily. If they are only marketing it as low fat, they are not claiming it's lower in calories. You'd have to check the label to see, and some products might be lower in calories and others might not.

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