Truth about low fat foods

upsidedownpear
upsidedownpear Posts: 101 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello people!

Many of you may have heard about the maltodextrin (starchy additive like glucose) content of reduced fat peanut butter - an ingredient found in a lot of processed food that is exchanged for fat in the name of reduced fat. I wanted to know what you guys think about low fat foods in terms of their nutritional value, benefits and risks. Things like 35 cal each laughing cow wedges look attractive. I almost always buy low fat milk. But have you come across any articles that speak the truth about these? Do they have harmful ingredients that everyone should be aware of ? Please share your views.

:-) Hope everyone's having a happy and healthy weekend !!

Replies

  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
    Low fat foods are generally pumped full of salt, sugar, & fillers to increase their taste. I do buy "light" peanut butter, but the only other reduced fat foods I buy are skim & 1% dairy products. It's a lot easier to take some of the fat out of dairy then to take some of the fat out of most other foods.
  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    I've been researching this a lot, actually. I've read that a lot of people actually drink 2% milk over skim because they do add more things like sugars, to fat free foods to make them taste better. It makes sense! I've always had this preconceived notion that I should eat/drink low fat and fat free foods so its hard to switch over.
  • susioryan
    susioryan Posts: 180
    I am reading a great book called Real Food, How to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. She does a great job explaining all the research on fat.
  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    http://www.cchealthcounseling.com/11.html?m7:post=should-you-eat-non-fat-or-low-fat-dairy
  • broby425
    broby425 Posts: 68
    Whenever I see "no fat" on a label, a little voice inside my head says "high sugar, high sodium". At least one of these is usually true. Manufacturers like to hide these ingredients by using names like maltodextrin -- this ingredient is made from grain-based starches and is absorbed into your system as glucose -- basically sugar. Fructose, corn syrup (and all its variants: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids)...all sugars. Just about anything with "malto", "dextrose", or "corn" in the name is likely some form of sugar. A large box of fat free, sugar free pudding lists cornstarch and maltodextrin as the first two ingredients. It also lists 300 mg of sodium per serving.

    Sorry, a bit of a rant here. I think that this kind of thing has actually been a contributing factor in weight gain for many people.

    For me, I've chosen to steer away from these foods and eat more naturally, recognizing high-fat and high-sugar foods for what they are and either limiting them or avoiding them altogether.
  • Cathleenr
    Cathleenr Posts: 332
    Whenever I see "no fat" on a label, a little voice inside my head says "high sugar, high sodium". At least one of these is usually true. Manufacturers like to hide these ingredients by using names like maltodextrin -- this ingredient is made from grain-based starches and is absorbed into your system as glucose -- basically sugar. Fructose, corn syrup (and all its variants: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids)...all sugars. Just about anything with "malto", "dextrose", or "corn" in the name is likely some form of sugar. A large box of fat free, sugar free pudding lists cornstarch and maltodextrin as the first two ingredients. It also lists 300 mg of sodium per serving.

    Sorry, a bit of a rant here. I think that this kind of thing has actually been a contributing factor in weight gain for many people.

    For me, I've chosen to steer away from these foods and eat more naturally, recognizing high-fat and high-sugar foods for what they are and either limiting them or avoiding them altogether.

    Tru dat.
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