Fat Free Foods - and "stereotype"

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mablesyrup
mablesyrup Posts: 286 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Growing up my mother was always big into nurtirion/ healthy food etc. (i am the only one in the family of 6 with a weight problem..) Anyways though- we were always told/taught by her that you shouldn't get the "fat free" and "reduced" versions of foods because the other things they added instead are just as bad for you or worse? Ie- Diet Coke contains aspartame- which has 3 byproducts, one including formeldahyde etc etc... you probably know the issues about it. Soooooooo how can I eat healthy foods- that aren't just all of the regular processed foods i normally get but with "less fat" or "diet" etc???? We already only use whole wheat pasta/noodles!!!!!!! What else can I do?

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  • mablesyrup
    mablesyrup Posts: 286 Member
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    Growing up my mother was always big into nurtirion/ healthy food etc. (i am the only one in the family of 6 with a weight problem..) Anyways though- we were always told/taught by her that you shouldn't get the "fat free" and "reduced" versions of foods because the other things they added instead are just as bad for you or worse? Ie- Diet Coke contains aspartame- which has 3 byproducts, one including formeldahyde etc etc... you probably know the issues about it. Soooooooo how can I eat healthy foods- that aren't just all of the regular processed foods i normally get but with "less fat" or "diet" etc???? We already only use whole wheat pasta/noodles!!!!!!! What else can I do?
  • dhayes
    dhayes Posts: 216 Member
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    I didn't know that fat free foods have added chemicals. Is there somewhere you can reccommend that I can research this?

    My mother in law also had the attitude that those types of food were no good for us, she always said to eat the natural foods but in smaller portions. but I don't know what the truth is.:ohwell:
  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
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    I have recently discovered that I don't need to fear the dreaded "F" word.........in our world, that is FAT! LOL!

    For years, I would buy "Fat-free", blah blah blah. It is so ridiculous because our bodies NEED fat, we just need to be careful about how much food in general we eat and where the fat is coming from.

    I have recently discovered that 1 tbsp of REGULAR cream cheese on an english muffin tastes just as great as smothering the english muffin AND it tastes so much better than the "light" version.

    I think the key is to eat good fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc as much as you can and just watch your portions as with a healthier lifestyle in general. We have just grown so used to eating such big amounts of food that our bodies simply don't need.
  • dhayes
    dhayes Posts: 216 Member
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    Tamim do you consider the reduced fat foods such as 2% milk or cheese to be "OK" . Dang another thing to worry about LOL.
  • watch48win
    watch48win Posts: 1,668 Member
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    I don't really buy much reduced fat items in the store. Usually just reduced fat sour cream, and cheeses. All of the other stuff to me is just nasty.

    My brother is a chef, and I will always remember him talking about butter vs margarine. He said just look at the ingrediants in each. Margarine is full of additives and chemicals where butter is just cream.

    It's all about portion control
  • edyta
    edyta Posts: 258
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    Tamim do you consider the reduced fat foods such as 2% milk or cheese to be "OK" . Dang another thing to worry about LOL.

    I think reduced fat milk is ok, because there are no ingredients added instead. With cheese it depends. I usually read labels and see what ingredients are inside, if they sound natural I buy it.
    Sweeteners are not very healthy but I sometimes eat those things. Probably the worst things are trans fats.
    I guess it's better to eat a little butter instead of margarine which is made of 1000 strange substances. However, for sandwiches I choose some kind of cheese spread instead of butter or margarine.
  • astridfeline
    astridfeline Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I agree that reduced fat dairy products are ok. Many of the "fat free" item you see in the store have added sugar/sugar aliases in to replace the fat and they still taste bad to me and aren't satisfying.
  • denmother46
    denmother46 Posts: 272 Member
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    I've read ( and noticed ) that you have to watch the amount of sugars in "fat free" products. They really pile it on!!!!
  • TamTastic
    TamTastic Posts: 19,224 Member
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    Tamim do you consider the reduced fat foods such as 2% milk or cheese to be "OK" . Dang another thing to worry about LOL.

    I agree with the rest of them when they say reduced fat dairy is ok. I drink skim milk myself and use lighter versions (2%) of cheese like provolone and swiss. Though, cheeses like feta, which are usually lower in calories and fat than other cheeses are a good choice, especially on a salad or something. A little goes a long way and adds flavor. Same with parmesan, etc.

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