"Lite" vs Normal
Replies
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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.0 -
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 good1 -
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.4 -
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.1 -
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.0 -
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.1 -
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. 0 -
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.0 -
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.4 -
Need2Exerc1se 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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I like the light versions myself. Maybe it's because when I had treats going up it was always the sugar free or lower fat options, but I love them. Diet soda, non fat yogurt, 2% cheese (But never fat free, I don't like the texture), almond milk, sugar free sweet tea, low carb/ sugar free ice cream, lower calorie bread, like the thin bread, and low carb tortillas. I don't pick them specifically because it's the diet version, it's either because I love the taste of the products or I don't notice a difference. On products I can tell a difference I'll buy the regular version, but honestly I can't think of a full fat/calorie/sugar treats that I prefer more than the light.0
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For me I just check the calorie difference and see from there. Things like American cheese, I pick 2%, it's processed anyway and I just want the flavor, so I'll save the 30 calories. Things like feta cheese, for a salad, there's maybe a 10-20 calorie difference so I'll go full fat. But shredded mozzarella in a dish, part skim is just fine.
I don't really drink milk but I sometimes use it in oatmeal and yeah, whole milk made a difference... but in crepes or pancakes I just use 1%.
Greek yogurt, it depends on the brand, but 0 or 2% makes no difference to me so I'll go with 0% unless the flavor I like only comes in 2%.
Cottage cheese I like full fat better and it's only 20-30 extra calories per serving, but if it's one of those times when I'm hungry and/or low on protein, I'll pick low fat.
None of those things have extra sugar btw. I mean, there might be a higher concentration of lactose sugar if it's low fat, obviously, but it's not like they add extra sugar in there (flavored yogurt maybe? I've never checked). But either way, check the labels to see if it's worth it.0 -
I prefer less ingredients/real food. Light options often have so many additives that they do more harm than good, and a good bit of what you're eating isn't even nutritious at that point. It's one thing to eat low calories, it's another to eat your calories wisely. Full fat, regular sugar options are always better. Just enjoy less of them.0
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Just because you aren't a chemist doesn't mean that chemicals = bad. Something being processed doesn't make it bad.
If anything, i'd say that our ignorance often causes us to make worse nutritional choices because we associate "simple" with "healthy". Or "natural" with "healthy". Neither are the case.
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We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.0
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I get lite dressing and lite juice, but the rest is just regular. Saving calories from the dressing and juice (because I like both a lot) is helpful in controlling calories for me.
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Need2Exerc1se 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.
I suppose that's true, but it's probably going to be less calories more often than not.0 -
We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
I rarely buy sour cream, but because I posted above, this is all the horrible "stuff" in Daisy low fat sour cream:
Ingredients: cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate
I don't see anything overly hard to pronounce.
Now yogurt, full fat OR low fat, sure, given all the cultures. I don't think that's a very good reason to avoid yogurt, though.
Sticking with dairy, the last cheese I bought (full fat) is called Magia Negra -- from a goat farm not terribly far from here. I think I can pronounce it okay, but I expect there are some who would have problems with it. Is it therefore not food?0 -
Oh, and I make light dressing all the time. The traditional ratio for a vinaigrette is something like 3-1 oil to vinegar, but I usually reverse it. So again, light or lower fat doesn't mean that anything is necessarily added (well, in this case, more oil, sometimes mustard or some other ingredients, but nothing I wouldn't normally put in a dressing).0
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GinaMarieG27 wrote: »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.
You should go to that website, take what she says, and then realize that the truth is the exact opposite of what she says.4 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
I rarely buy sour cream, but because I posted above, this is all the horrible "stuff" in Daisy low fat sour cream:
Ingredients: cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate
I don't see anything overly hard to pronounce.
Now yogurt, full fat OR low fat, sure, given all the cultures. I don't think that's a very good reason to avoid yogurt, though.
Sticking with dairy, the last cheese I bought (full fat) is called Magia Negra -- from a goat farm not terribly far from here. I think I can pronounce it okay, but I expect there are some who would have problems with it. Is it therefore not food?
We love Daisy Sour Cream, it is so much better than Breakstone's. I never said there was horrible stuff in it. There are various brands of plain, high fat Greek yogurt with simple ingredients, but they all raise my sugar. Drat it.
Edited to add, Plain Greek Yogurt.0 -
I go for the least amount of ingredients whenever possible. 20 calories just isn't worth the extra chemicals for me. They may be perfectly safe per the FDA but I'll pass. I go full fat for most things though when my calorie goal was small when I was actively losing some fat free dressings did make their way into my home...not sure how that happened For something like Sour Cream try plain greek yogurt (not that you asked for a substitute ) 0
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I haven't read everything in the thread so I don't know if this has been answered. I think the extra stuff is in there mostly for textural reasons (mouth feel) and as preservatives. Take the fat out of something like sour cream (or ice cream) and it becomes much less appealing because you lose the mouth feel of the fat.
I use low fat, no sugar added soy and coconut milk because I tend to use it in things rather than by itself. I've gotten into the habit of having a half cup greek yogurt with a half cup mixed berries and a quarter cup granola (usually Kind brand) sweetened with stevia as a dessert in the evening, and I use full fat yogurt because it's so much better tasting.
When I have ice cream, I'll have the full fat version. "ice milk" is an abomination. You have to decide two things: are you in this for the long haul, or are you "dieting"? and if the former, can you live with food that doesn't taste great to you for the rest of your life?1 -
We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
Daisy lite sour cream doesn't have any "stuff" added to it...they just use skim milk.I haven't read everything in the thread so I don't know if this has been answered. I think the extra stuff is in there mostly for textural reasons (mouth feel) and as preservatives. Take the fat out of something like sour cream (or ice cream) and it becomes much less appealing because you lose the mouth feel of the fat.
I use low fat, no sugar added soy and coconut milk because I tend to use it in things rather than by itself. I've gotten into the habit of having a half cup greek yogurt with a half cup mixed berries and a quarter cup granola (usually Kind brand) sweetened with stevia as a dessert in the evening, and I use full fat yogurt because it's so much better tasting.
When I have ice cream, I'll have the full fat version. "ice milk" is an abomination. You have to decide two things: are you in this for the long haul, or are you "dieting"? and if the former, can you live with food that doesn't taste great to you for the rest of your life?
Most dairy products do not add anything to lower fat options...they just skim the fat. I actually find it odd that there was anything added as per the OP...I use lite sour cream all of the time because we eat a lot of it and I don't really want to spend the calories...I've never had a lite sour cream with anything added...they just skim the fat.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
I rarely buy sour cream, but because I posted above, this is all the horrible "stuff" in Daisy low fat sour cream:
Ingredients: cultured cream, skim milk, vitamin A palmitate
I don't see anything overly hard to pronounce.
Now yogurt, full fat OR low fat, sure, given all the cultures. I don't think that's a very good reason to avoid yogurt, though.
Sticking with dairy, the last cheese I bought (full fat) is called Magia Negra -- from a goat farm not terribly far from here. I think I can pronounce it okay, but I expect there are some who would have problems with it. Is it therefore not food?
We love Daisy Sour Cream, it is so much better than Breakstone's. I never said there was horrible stuff in it. There are various brands of plain, high fat Greek yogurt with simple ingredients, but they all raise my sugar. Drat it.
Edited to add, Plain Greek Yogurt.
Oh, in case you misunderstood or I wasn't clear enough, I wasn't suggesting that it was difficult to find yogurt without simple ingredients. Every yogurt I've ever bothered looking at (I prefer plain) has just milk and cultures. (My favorite store brand is usually Fage 0% -- yes, the lowest fat one, and yet it has NO extra ingredients -- although I'm currently into the non-greek variety from the goat farm I got the cheese from that I mentioned in my prior post. Tasty!)
My point was just that going by the pronounciation thing, there'd be a problem with yogurt, since most of the ones I've seen at a store list the cultures, and some of those are actually harder to pronounce than chemical names (which really aren't hard if you understand how they work).0 -
I go for the least amount of ingredients whenever possible. 20 calories just isn't worth the extra chemicals for me. They may be perfectly safe per the FDA but I'll pass. I go full fat for most things though when my calorie goal was small when I was actively losing some fat free dressings did make their way into my home...not sure how that happened For something like Sour Cream try plain greek yogurt (not that you asked for a substitute )
I know, it doesn't matter, but I find it puzzling when someone claims she cares about the number of ingredients and even suggests that there's something wrong with low fat dairy (which typically has no extra ingredients at all), and then mentions buying dressing. Dressing (including low and no fat) is something I've always made at home, because it's so simple to do so and usually tastes better (IMO). I'm not at all suggesting that there's anything wrong with buying dressing -- I'm sure it's a convenience and if I buy a salad out (for example, at Pret), I'll accept whatever the best dressing option they have usually (based on taste, calories, ingredients). But your post seemed like you were trying to say that people who buy low fat dairy (or other lower fat products -- maybe lean ground beef?) are not eating as "naturally," or consuming "extra chemicals" or taking risks you won't take -- so that rather stuck out to me.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
Daisy lite sour cream doesn't have any "stuff" added to it...they just use skim milk.I haven't read everything in the thread so I don't know if this has been answered. I think the extra stuff is in there mostly for textural reasons (mouth feel) and as preservatives. Take the fat out of something like sour cream (or ice cream) and it becomes much less appealing because you lose the mouth feel of the fat.
I use low fat, no sugar added soy and coconut milk because I tend to use it in things rather than by itself. I've gotten into the habit of having a half cup greek yogurt with a half cup mixed berries and a quarter cup granola (usually Kind brand) sweetened with stevia as a dessert in the evening, and I use full fat yogurt because it's so much better tasting.
When I have ice cream, I'll have the full fat version. "ice milk" is an abomination. You have to decide two things: are you in this for the long haul, or are you "dieting"? and if the former, can you live with food that doesn't taste great to you for the rest of your life?
Most dairy products do not add anything to lower fat options...they just skim the fat. I actually find it odd that there was anything added as per the OP...I use lite sour cream all of the time because we eat a lot of it and I don't really want to spend the calories...I've never had a lite sour cream with anything added...they just skim the fat.
It's not too uncommon. For example Kroger brand nonfat greek yogurt has quite a few ingredients listed while Chobani has only nonfat milk and cultures.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »We buy Daisy full fat sour cream. Less "stuff" in it. If you cannot pronounce it, it is not food.
Daisy lite sour cream doesn't have any "stuff" added to it...they just use skim milk.I haven't read everything in the thread so I don't know if this has been answered. I think the extra stuff is in there mostly for textural reasons (mouth feel) and as preservatives. Take the fat out of something like sour cream (or ice cream) and it becomes much less appealing because you lose the mouth feel of the fat.
I use low fat, no sugar added soy and coconut milk because I tend to use it in things rather than by itself. I've gotten into the habit of having a half cup greek yogurt with a half cup mixed berries and a quarter cup granola (usually Kind brand) sweetened with stevia as a dessert in the evening, and I use full fat yogurt because it's so much better tasting.
When I have ice cream, I'll have the full fat version. "ice milk" is an abomination. You have to decide two things: are you in this for the long haul, or are you "dieting"? and if the former, can you live with food that doesn't taste great to you for the rest of your life?
Most dairy products do not add anything to lower fat options...they just skim the fat. I actually find it odd that there was anything added as per the OP...I use lite sour cream all of the time because we eat a lot of it and I don't really want to spend the calories...I've never had a lite sour cream with anything added...they just skim the fat.
It's not too uncommon. For example Kroger brand nonfat greek yogurt has quite a few ingredients listed while Chobani has only nonfat milk and cultures.
I eat Fage...nothing added either. I guess being a food snob has it's benefits.1
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