Understanding Food Labels, Part 2: Lowfat vs. Full Fat

DO NOT EAT A LOW-FAT DIET

Low-fat is a food marketing term that was widely used in the 80’s and 90’s when we were taught all fat was bad. I remember working at McDonalds in high school and opting for McDonalds low-fat vanilla shake and low-fat cookies (made with trans fats) as a meal because at that time, they had the lowest fat grams on the menu.  Counting fat grams never helped me lose weight and I’m pretty sure my cookie and milkshake diet had a negative effect on my health.

Now we know fats play an important and vital role in our health (with the exception of trans fats). We need fats - good fats, even saturated fats are vital for a normal metabolism, heart, bone, liver, lung and brain health. Unfortunately, many people are still highly influenced by low-fat marketing and do not realize selecting a low-fat option over a full fat option may be worse for your health.

There are good fats and bad fats and that’s why so it’s important to read the labels. Saturated fats have a bad rap but are they are not always bad. For example coconut is high in saturated fat but it’s full of healthy benefits because of lauric acid which strengthens the immune system – but those benefits are removed when the fat is removed from coconut.

Trans fats do not exist in nature. It comes from chemically altered oils as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. Trans fats are used in some processed foods and low-fat products. They increase the risk of coronary heart disease by raising levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and lowering “good” HDL cholesterol.

How Food Manufactures are Deceiving You

Some food manufactures have removed trans fats from their products but there are plenty of manufacturers hiding it from you. Some products may have trans fat, even if the label say “0”. How can they do that? If it has .5 grams per serving or less, it will say “0” – this is where it’s important to read the ingredients. For example, a small bag of cookies from the vending machine may have 2-4 servings.  If the label says “0” trans fat, it could have 0.5 grams x 4 servings = 2 grams of trans fat for that little bag! If you didn’t read or understand the label, you would assume you haven’t consumed any trans fat. Research shows that increasing daily trans fat to just 2 grams would increase one’s risk of cardiovascular disease by 30%. The moral of this story is, check the ingredients, and then make sure you don’t see any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil listed in the ingredients.

In lowfat products food manufactures will increase the sugars or salt to make up from the loss of flavor from removing the fat. This high salt content increases our risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease as well as risk of asthma, kidney stones, osteoporosis and stomach cancer. The increase in sugar can cause spikes of blood sugar levels telling your body to store fat and increasing your risk of type 2 diabetes.

To keep the sugar and calories low, they made add artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or Splenda (sucralose). Aspartame can cause tumors and contribute to MS, lupus, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, headaches, memory loss, dizziness, vertigo and fatigue. Sucralose may adversely affect your immune system and may retard placental fetal development in pregnant women. Also blurred vision, water retention, hypotension, headaches, bloating, cramping, gas, shortness of breath, hives, rashes, muscle pain, weakness and joint pain have been reported.

Another trick food manufactures use to make a product lowfat is to pump the product full of air – this would also make the product lower in calories. A perfect example of this is ice cream. The full fat, more expensive ice creams are rich and creamy. The “light” or low fat versions are usually not as satisfying because you are eating cream mixed with air. As you scoop the ice cream you may notice it compressing or melt and that pint or quart won’t feed as many people as you thought.

Salad dressings are some of the dirtiest foods you can eat. They may be filled with sugar, sodium, artificial sweeteners, MSG and unhealthy oils. If eating out, skip the pre-made dressings opting for lemons, limes or salsa. If you’re at home, whip together olive oil with juice from citrus, vinegars or mustards.

Only use coconut oils for cooking and olive oil for low heat cooking and salads. Nut oils are great for salads too. Avoid vegetable oils and canola which is a GMO oil. There is no such thing as a canola plant. Canola is a GMO variety of the rape seed plant. Corn and soy oils most likely come from GMO corn and soy.

If low-fat products remove the healthy benefits, add sugars, artificial sweeteners and sodium that contribute to disease, then why would you buy the low-fat version of the product? Eating fat doesn’t make you fat, eating too many calories and inflammation foods make you fat.

Toss out all of those old "low-fat" cookbooks. Embrace fats and don’t be deceived – be smart and read the labels! Pretty soon you’ll figure out what foods you can trust.

Next: Understanding Food Labels: Sugar-Free & Artificial Sweeteners
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