Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Don't Be Conned By Low Fat "Diet" Food

some diet advice from the diet coach

There are so many myths about proper eating.  Breast-feeding mothers are told to east dairy products to produce good milk, as if they are funnels.  Do cows drink milk?  No, they eat grass and other grains for good milk.  So, ladies, for good milk, eat salad.

Reduced fat food won't reduce the fat in your body, because most of those reduced fat foods just have more sugars.  Fat free foods won't make you fat free; you may find yourself getting fatter from the corn syrup and salts used to make the food tastier.  We need a certain amount of fats in our diets.  If we don't have it, there will be a hunger, and we'll try to satisfy it with carbohydrates.  A bit of natural fat and oils make the foods more satisfying and tastier, so you'll eat less and stay satisfied longer.

If you take regular mayonnaise and low-fat mayonnaise from the same manufacturer and compare ingredients you'll see that there's more sugar in the low-fat.  Fake, "fat free half and half" is full of corn syrup.  It's much healthier to have some natural dairy fat than all that sugar. 

Remember that our bodies can produce cholesterol.  That's why some people on very low fat diets have high cholesterol.  If you under-eat it, your body will overcompensate by overproducing it.

I'm not saying to live on fats only.  I just believe in whole eggs and whole milk.  I don't eat yellow cheese.  It's too manufactured and has a lot of fats.  I like 3% yogurt and 9% cottage cheese, and as I just wrote, I don't touch yellow cheese, which generally has 20% or more fat. The fat-reduced ones taste like plastic and have lots more salt.  Check your yogurts for salts and sugars.  I don't eat artificial sweeteners either.  I'd rather have fruits, also a bit of sugar in my morning coffee, but no cake.

Most of my food is vegetables, both cooked and raw.  I find my sauteed vegetables the most filling.

6 comments:

rickismom said...

It is true that many "low-fat" foods have extra sugar. One definately needs to read the labels.
I personally like the low-fat yogurts, and blend them frozen with fruit and sweetner for a mid-day pick-me up. I also use the 5% mayonaise and the low fat yellow cheese in toasted chees sandwhichs.
One has to read labels carefully, but one also needs to experiment and find what "works" for oneself. For example, it is theoretically better to eat more calories in the morning, and the least at night. But I personally find that dividing them up equally over the day is what works best for me.

Batya said...

One of the reasons why I can't follow given menus is because they just don't work for me. We're all different.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
I don't agree with all of the macrobiotic methods, but one of the nice things about macrobiotics is that diets and menus are tailored to each person and each season.

Batya said...

Hadassa, is the personal macrobiotic diet reformatted periodically to reflect changes?
Thanks for reminding me about the seasonal aspects of food. I ought to blog about it. I only buy/eat fruit in its season.

Hadassa said...

Shalom!
I am no expert and I do not pretend to advise others on macrobiotics. If I have understood the basic principles correctly, each and every meal should be tailored as much as possible for the current situation of the individual, including taking into account the climate, the weather - everything. The Rambam would agree with much of macrobiotics. Balance is key to both Rambam and macrobiotics. Both also advise buying fruit only in season and (I think) food that has not traveled far.

Batya said...

It makes sense. Good eating always makes sense, goes with nature. I don't like labels nor following set diets.