Fat vs Non-Fat products

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beth_816
beth_816 Posts: 19
in Food and Nutrition
I have a friend at work. Who. When I share that I had chosen the Non-Fat version of a food--for example Non-Fat half and half over the Full Fat version...I get a lecture about how unhealthy it is to do that.

She's kicks into this non-stop lecture mode and kinda goes off...says that the body needs fat. (she says this in several different ways) That the amount of processing the food has to go through renders the product unhealthy. (She's not terribly specific about this)

Contrary to what she might think...I don't have cupboards full of Non-Fat foods. They are not a staple in my daily intake. I don't deceive myself that if it's non-fat I can eat as much as I want. I get plenty of healthy fat in the foods I eat as regular meals.

So my question is...

Is it wrong to choose nonfat 1/2 n 1/2 over full fat?
Are non-fat foods inherently UNhealthy?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • SherryRH
    SherryRH Posts: 810 Member
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    In my diabetes class the nutritionist said that in order to make the less fat items taste better they sometimes add more sugar or salt so looking at the label may tell you what was added. I for one like cottage cheese but cannot stand the taste of fat free so I have to eat the lower fat version.
  • rebecca_d35
    rebecca_d35 Posts: 131
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    I think that sometimes, non-fat is the healthier choice. But if it's a food that needs to have fat to do what it's supposed to do (like fat-free half-and-half), the stuff added to get the right flavor or mouthfeel is unhealthier than the fat itself.

    Non-fat creamer tends to have weird stuff like corn syrup solids (!?) as ingredients. That makes it creamy.
  • creature275
    creature275 Posts: 348 Member
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    non fat products tend to be higher in carbs, take peanut butter for example, most people agree normal peanut butter is healthier than low fat peanut butter
  • goforthd5
    goforthd5 Posts: 167
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    I agree that you really should look at the labels. The other day I was buying cream cheese. The 1/3 less version had 3 ingredients, whereas the fat-free version had a long list. Just watch the labels. In order to make products stable at lot of chemicals are sometimes added- as in the cream cheese example.
  • laurastrait21
    laurastrait21 Posts: 307 Member
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    The only problem I have with non-fat products is when you remove the fat from a product, they often add in more sugar (usually the high fructose corn syrup variety) to keep the taste/texture similar. For diabetics or those just closely watching their macros, this can be sneaky!
  • Charisse1011
    Charisse1011 Posts: 84 Member
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    I believe its merely up to that person. Like SherryRH says, if its non fat or low fat,there's prolly alot of sugar to make up for the taste. Read the labels, I try not to exceed over 25g of sugar aday which is very hard. Just watch your sugar in take, but make sure u get your proteins in to out weigh your sugar intake. I hope this helps, and tell your friend to relax, your on a mission...
  • jamiesadler
    jamiesadler Posts: 634 Member
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    not really. I choose full fat and just eat less. You need less to get full taste. However, I grew up on all fat free items. The bad thing with these are they take out something natural and add something unnatural to it to preserve the flavor. It really depends on the product. I buy light sour cream and other dairy products but use full fat butter.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
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    Along the same lines as Sherry, sometimes in removing something, i.e. fat, they add something like salt. The same is true for stuff that is sugar free. Besides this is your choice. Whatever works for you for you to get where you want to be.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    I always check before selecting non-fat, simply because there's often more additives and chemicals, and as others have said, sugar.
    I try to eat as un-processed as I can.
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
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    I buy fat-free or low-fat dairy products. I have a milk-fat sensitivity that causes me extreme discomfort... No other choice for me. However, a lot of fat-free products have higher sodium levels as they use it to balance out the taste of the missing fat...
  • Polly758
    Polly758 Posts: 623 Member
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    Is it wrong to choose nonfat 1/2 n 1/2 over full fat?
    Are non-fat foods inherently UNhealthy?

    Let's not make it a moral issue... but I know what you mean.

    My personal guideline is to eat real food, as close to it's natural state as is reasonable. So non-fat milk? This can be done by mechanically spinning the hell out of the milk to separate the fat. Reasonably natural. Non-fat half-and-half? This is done by adding thickeners and sweeteners to fat-free milk.

    So if you're trying to eat "healthy", I would say that if a food has been made fat-free by adding sugar or wierd ingredients, or by chemically changing it ("reverse osmosis hydrogenated oil" or whatever they're calling it these days), you're better off eating the regular version of it.

    That said, if the only fat-free product you use is the half-and-half, I don't think you'll die any earlier from drinking 2 teaspoons of that a day.
  • jestersvk
    jestersvk Posts: 49
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    Well the problem with diet foods that I see is that fat is the carier of taste so that's why diet and non-fat food tastes worse than regular and to keep at least some taste preserved the companies usually add sugar (not always but some products might have 50% less fat but they have lot more sugar) but otherwise than that there's not really a health issue with them...

    Another thing I like to tell people is that there's really a big difference what kind of fat you eat.... In recent years there has been a trend of using mostly vegetable fat (oils and margarine) and to some point they are good for your heart, but animal fats (butter, lard) are the only ones in which vitamines can dissolve in your body. So if you completely supplement animal fats for vegetable fats your body can't use them for anything else but energy storage and you start getting fat although the add told you that you will be the healthiest person in the world.....

    In my opinion all the low-carb, low-fat, vegetarian or vegan diets are a bunch of crap... Your body needs sugar it needs fat and it needs protein... It also needs both animal and vegetable protein as well as animal and vegetable fat.... The only real diet is eating a broad range of foods that contain a balanced portion of those nutrients....
  • Alliwan
    Alliwan Posts: 1,245 Member
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    Is it wrong to choose nonfat 1/2 n 1/2 over full fat?
    Are non-fat foods inherently UNhealthy?

    Let's not make it a moral issue... but I know what you mean.

    My personal guideline is to eat real food, as close to it's natural state as is reasonable. So non-fat milk? This can be done by mechanically spinning the hell out of the milk to separate the fat. Reasonably natural. Non-fat half-and-half? This is done by adding thickeners and sweeteners to fat-free milk.

    So if you're trying to eat "healthy", I would say that if a food has been made fat-free by adding sugar or wierd ingredients, or by chemically changing it ("reverse osmosis hydrogenated oil" or whatever they're calling it these days), you're better off eating the regular version of it.

    That said, if the only fat-free product you use is the half-and-half, I don't think you'll die any earlier from drinking 2 teaspoons of that a day.

    this is how we look at it too. If its a 'natural' low/non fat item, then yes, if its higher in calories and/or sugar because of making it non-fat, then no. I all is about choices, not a blanket yes or no to non-fat items.
  • Buckeyt
    Buckeyt Posts: 473 Member
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    In my opinion all the low-carb, low-fat, vegetarian or vegan diets are a bunch of crap... Your body needs sugar it needs fat and it needs protein... It also needs both animal and vegetable protein as well as animal and vegetable fat.... The only real diet is eating a broad range of foods that contain a balanced portion of those nutrients....


    I can't wee to see some of the responses to that statement.
  • Dtho5159
    Dtho5159 Posts: 1,054 Member
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    It depends on several factors to me. For example, fat free ranch dressing is NASTY, and everyone who knows me knows how much I love my ranch!! The Lite version is more palatable to me. Like someone else said, if it takes more ingredients to make a product fat free, I stick with the regular version and add less.
  • bearxfoo
    bearxfoo Posts: 81 Member
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    Any food that under goes extra processing to make it "non-fat", "low sodium", "sugar free", "low calorie" is probably not so good for you.

    It's hard to remember, but just because a food may be "high" in calories doesn't mean it's bad for you, and just because a food is "low" in calories (or fat, or sugar, or whatever) doesn't mean it's good for you.

    I think non-processed, whole foods are always better for than you anything that's been processed, tampered with, or loaded with chemicals lab born that you can't pronounce. So sometimes, yeah, picking a "non-fat" food over a "fat" food may not be the best choice.

    It's also important to remember: everything in moderation. "whole foods", or "organic foods", non-processed are expensive and sometimes picking the "non-fat" yogurt is a better alternative for somebody personally.

    If I were you, I'd just tell that chick to worry about her own body and let you do your thing.
  • dme1977
    dme1977 Posts: 537 Member
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    I eat nonfat yogurt, non fat/sugar free ice cream, and drink non fat milk..:drinker: . morally and healthy wise...I am ok with this.
    do I eat EVERYTHING nonfat?? absolutely NOT!!

    BUT, in our household we tend to have more sugar free items than non fat due to BF being diabetic. . So, instead of having to buy HIM items and US items we just buy most everything sugar free and we ALL eat it.
    (now I do buy my 3 year old special things like Oreo cookies and for myself non fat fig newtons... I dont have a problem with sodium so the extra salt doesn't affect me either way... )

    Like everyone elze zaid, READ LABELS!!! see what itz being added to the food to replace the fat..
    .if itz zomething you can live with, I say go for it :flowerforyou:
    if not: pass and buy the "real" version and use it moderately.

    I
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
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    I do low fat to full fat..depepnding on what I find. The ingredients in non-fat stuff just scares me..Besides full fat stuff isnt bad for you..its the processed stuff that is...

    We stopped margarine and started doing butter. I do lowfat greek (hard to find full fat) cause its less carbs..and its good fat..its personal preference like everything else...
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
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    I forgot to mention that I need high sodium because of my blood pressure being low. My doctor wanted to give me salt tablets but I would prefer to just get a higher sodium intake in my diet...
  • jestersvk
    jestersvk Posts: 49
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    In my opinion all the low-carb, low-fat, vegetarian or vegan diets are a bunch of crap... Your body needs sugar it needs fat and it needs protein... It also needs both animal and vegetable protein as well as animal and vegetable fat.... The only real diet is eating a broad range of foods that contain a balanced portion of those nutrients....


    I can't wee to see some of the responses to that statement.

    Well I know this might start some kind of flamewar with that but as I said it's my opinion.... I'm not forcing it on anybody and I'm willing to accept anyones opinion as long as it isn't stated with hostility....

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