What do you think about low fat?

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Fat keeps some people fuller. I'm not one of them. For that reason, I opt for lower fat dairy products. I also am not a fan of saturated fat. Fat is simply a flavor enhancer for me. I like to save my calories for foods that fill me up like protein and carbs. I actually prefer most light cheeses (I know, burn the infidel).

Pretty much this (except for the cheeses).

I eat less of full fat if the taste makes a difference for me -- I'd rather have less cheese and stick to the real stuff, and I'd also rather have a little less chicken cooked with the skin than skinless, boneless. And I'd certainly rather have less real ice cream than replace it with that Arctic Zero stuff. I'd rather use less olive oil (or sometimes butter) than some fat free dressing or whatever (I make my own dressings anyway, so just control how much oil I put in and similarly control how much I use for cooking).

On the other hand, I like low fat cottage cheese and low or 0% yogurt as much or more than full fat, much of the time, so I drink them.

I don't use "fake" low-fat versions. I won't do "fat free half-and-half" (WTF is that, anyway?) or low-fat hard cheeses. Those are hideous fakes and full of stuff I'd rather not eat.
I buy 1% milk and lowfat (but NOT nonfat) yogurt.
I've found that my breakfast cottage cheese needs to be full-fat to keep me from being hungry faster, and the nonfat cottage cheese tastes like chalk.

I don't do "nonfat" salad dressing, either. Salad needs some fat on it for flavor and vitamin absorption, and again, the ingredients list tells the story.

Also: I've never done the digging to double-check the accuracy of this, but it does an interesting experiement with "nonfat" margarine to show that it's not relaly nonfat.
"Mono and diglycerides" on a food label are not required to be included in the fat or calorie count. But they are fats and behave as such in teh body, and they have calories.

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/labels1.html
Here's what "nonfat margarine" breaks down to. With an analysis of how the label is incorrect re: caloric content.

It depends on the product. I don't do low fat cheese...I drink 1% milk...I do non-fat greek yogurt...and reduced fat sour cream usually...it just depends on the product and how I'm going to use it and how much of it I'm going to be consuming.

I get most of my fat from things like good cooking oils, butter, avocados, nuts, nut butters, etc.

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Mycophilia wrote: »

I generally avoid low-fat options mostly because they taste worse. And some products don't even have less calories/100g since they replace a lot of the missing fat with carbs.

In baked goods, you might have a case to make, but since the OP is talking about dairy products, lowfat dairy does not replace fat with carbs.

It does sometimes. Low fat yoghurt is often sugary, sometimes even the low fat bio yogurts have sugar added. So it's worth watching out for.

I personally go for full fat dairy because I love it, and avoid a lot of commercial "low fat" options because of the above carb-swapping trick. However, I will use low fat tricks in my own cooking as it can be a really easy way to cut calories in a dish.

I've never seen low fat/no fat dairy with added sugar unless it's something they're adding fruit or whatever...I've never seen plain non fat yogurt add sugar...it has more naturally occurring sugar (lactose) because of the way it is processed...it's not added...it's not some kind of "low fat trick"...knowledge is power.

For me it depends on the trade-off... If lower fat means more sugar, gelatin, or other additives, then probably no... I would rather have less of the full fat ice cream, butter, sour cream, cheese... However, I'm not a huge fan of milk (for drinking) anyways--I always buy skim because it's mostly water.

Fat does NOT keep me fuller, protein and fiber does. I buy part-skim soft cheeses, low-fat greek yogurt, 2% milk and cottage cheese. There is nothing "extra" in any of them, just less fat. I know this, because I read the label. I generally don't like no-fat formulations.

OP, you have to find the right way for YOU to eat so that you can be healthy and stay at the right calorie level, while still enjoying your food! I would never waste calories on the full fat versions of these products, because I like the low fat versions just as much, and more fat doesn't fill me up. For other folks, those extra calories would be worth it. Your results may vary

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

Depends on my calories for the day and my tastes.

This^

Some reduced fat things taste good, others are nasty.

Fat free dressings, fat free cheese, fat free ice cream - yuck

Lower or fat free Greek yogurt - yum. Lower fat cottage cheese - I like it.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

It depends on the product. I don't do low fat cheese...I drink 1% milk...I do non-fat greek yogurt...and reduced fat sour cream usually...it just depends on the product and how I'm going to use it and how much of it I'm going to be consuming.

I get most of my fat from things like good cooking oils, butter, avocados, nuts, nut butters, etc.

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Mycophilia wrote: »

I generally avoid low-fat options mostly because they taste worse. And some products don't even have less calories/100g since they replace a lot of the missing fat with carbs.

In baked goods, you might have a case to make, but since the OP is talking about dairy products, lowfat dairy does not replace fat with carbs.

It does sometimes. Low fat yoghurt is often sugary, sometimes even the low fat bio yogurts have sugar added. So it's worth watching out for.

I personally go for full fat dairy because I love it, and avoid a lot of commercial "low fat" options because of the above carb-swapping trick. However, I will use low fat tricks in my own cooking as it can be a really easy way to cut calories in a dish.

I've never seen low fat/no fat dairy with added sugar unless it's something they're adding fruit or whatever...I've never seen plain non fat yogurt add sugar...it has more naturally occurring sugar (lactose) because of the way it is processed...it's not added...it's not some kind of "low fat trick"...knowledge is power.

Yep, I wish this myth or lie or whatever it is would die already.

I use no fat, low fat 1/2 fat everything. Or at least most things. And I think reduced fat cheese taste just fine. So does no fat Greek yogurt. Yummy. Maybe once I hit goal I'll broaden my options and add in some full fat foods, but for right now I'm fine with what I'm eating.

Lizarking wrote: »

Dachs6 wrote: »

Low-fat "might" be good if it is cutting out saturated fats. Remember some fats are good, in some cases extraordinarily good. ....

...For example, saturated fats are good in the right quantity. This isn't 1980. We know better now.



OP: Go full fat. Cut the extra calories out of sugar elsewhere.

Or go low fat and get fats and calories from other sources.

Given that I like plenty of foods with fat (including sat fat, which it is still recommended we limit), I see no reason to replace low fat cottage cheese or low/no fat greek yogurt (Fage) which I like as well as or even prefer to full fat with the high calorie options.

I do enjoy some goat's milk yogurt from a (sort of) local farm where I also buy cheese, and since that has no low fat option I get full fat for that.