Alright, my question is what to look out for when buying fat free foods with added sugar. I just read that most of the time a fat free product compensates for lost fat (flavor) with added sugars and that’s a double whammy because there is no fat to slow down the absorption of the sugar causing insulin spikes and triggering the body to store what’s coming in because there is a lot of energy available at the time. (Are these simple carbohydrates?) So! Am I just watching out for the sweeteners that end with the forsaken "ose" or is my fat free yogurt that's sweetened with Splenda also not a great compromise?
On a side note, I've heard that as long as what you’re eating is fat free AND moderately low in calories it's irrelevant because as long as you can expend those calories as usual the storing of said energy would not be an issue. On another note, it seems that it wouldn’t matter much if its JUST a cup of yogurt or another small snack. I could see it being an issue if you started a large meal with something causing an insulin spike but otherwise what’s the deal?
I love this nutrition stuff, its fun.
Just wanted to point out that you have to put this " low / no fat " approach into perspective. In my view, from a " sanity " point of view, it is a lot better to simply try and keep your fat intake to whatever your target fat intake might be on a daily basis, rather than on a per meal or per food item basis.
And, on that note, not all fat intake needs be at the " no fat " or " ultra fat " level - there are " good fats & " bad fats " after all. For example, the American Heart Association suggests people should consume no more than 30% of total calories from fat - and that's for overweight people; Mayo Clinic - 20 % to 35 %; American Dietetic Association - 20 % to 35 %; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services & the Department of Agriculture - 20 % to 35 %....you get the idea. Obviously, within those ranges, the primary focus is to greatly reduce saturated fat intake and your trans fat intake ( i.e some of the the " bad fats " ) and to focus on increasing the " good fats :.
So, if you take in 2,000 calories a day and 30% of that ( i.e from the American Heart Association ) is coming primarily from " good " fats......that tranlates to about 66 grams of fat a day. Now, that could be having 2 snacks a day of 3 grams each ( 6 in total ) and 20 grams a meal over 3 meals ( 60 in total ) for a grand total of 66 fat grams. Or, the same snacks , one meal at 30, one meal at 20 and one meal at 10...again, for a total of 66 fat grams.
In other words, my point is, when it comes to fat, the idea is to find a reasonable overall fat intake target that is line with your goals and within that target, try to be a bit flexible as to how and when you meet it .
On your comment...
" I've heard that as long as what you’re eating is fat free AND moderately low in calories it's irrelevant because as long as you can expend those calories as usual the storing of said energy would not be an issue "
...am i understanding your point correctly ?
Not sure I follow..... is it......'
if i eat low fat/ low cal foods ITS O.K. because I won't store that food as fat because it's going to get used up as part of my daily calories " ???
Also, even if my intreptation is somewhat correct, why would that have anything to do with something being low fat/low cal ?? I'm sure I'm just not understanding your point correctly.
Perhaps you could elaborate...I'm a bit slow at times
