Petra @newmiboYou’re trying to lose weight so you’re naturally selecting low fat, diet, light products. But what if I told you these products are in fact sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Here is Part 1 of “diet foods” to best avoid and what to select instead.
FLAVOURED DIET YOGURTS
The only two ingredients needed to make yogurt are milk and bacteria. Yogurt is made through bacterial fermentation. It is high in protein and contains minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium and more.
It is also one of the best sources of probiotics linked to many health benefits. Choose yogurts containing active or live cultures.
Flavoured diet yogurts, on the other hand, generally contain many added ingredients such as artificial sweeteners, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers, preservatives, additives and somewhat ironically in many of these varieties, the beneficial part of a yogurt, live cultures, have been removed/destroyed. Always look out for added sugars; fructose, dextrose, glucose, fructose syrup, but also for added sweeteners such as aspartame which many diet yogurts contain. Furthermore, many include added gelatine or/and modified maize starch.
Example: Weight Watchers Raspbery yogurt:
Ingredients: Reconstituted Skimmed Milk, Skimmed Milk, Raspberry (8%), Skimmed Milk Powder, Fructose (1.5%), Elderberry Juice from Concentrate, Gelatine, Modified Maize Starch, Flavourings, Stabiliser: Pectin, Acidity Regulators: Sodium Citrates, Citric Acid, Sweeteners: Sweeteners: Aspartame, Acesulfame K, Yogurt Cultures
Remember that artificial sweeteners and flavourings are apetite stimulants, designed to make you want to eat more. Furthermore, skimmed milk does not provide the same satiation as yogurt made with whole milk. I will go as far as saying, the satiating parts of the yogurt (protein and fat) have been almost completely replaced by unnecessary appetite stimulants. In other words, this type of yogurt will not satiate but will make you want to eat more, which is why there are a zillion flavours available.
Example: Muller Light Crunch Toffee Cheesecake Flavour
Yogurt (MILK), Water, WHEAT Flour (with added Calcium, Iron, Niacin and Thiamin), Sugar, Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Modified Maize Starch, Flavourings, OATS (Gluten), Salt, Invert Sugar Syrup, Caramel Syrup, Stabiliser: Pectins: Sweeteners: Aspartame, Acesulfame K; Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid.
Have you noticed the addition of palm and rapeseed oil in the ingredient list? And have you also noticed the lack of active or live cultures?
BETTER OPTION:
choose plain/unflavoured yogurt (low fat if you prefer) and add your own toppings; some fresh fruit, cinnamon, few chopped nuts, seeds
CEREAL BARS
Cereal bars are notoriously high in sugar. Even if they claim to be “natural” they usually contain date syrup, dates, coconut sugar, fructose syrup, glucose syrup, honey and many vegetable oils.
Cereal bars are also low in protein which is in fact the most satiating macronutrient and instead are high in carbohydrates. This will create a sudden insulin spike just as any other sugary snack, followed by the inevitable sugar crash and feeling of sudden low energy. These bars also trigger cravings and with anything high in sugar, these are designed to make you want to eat more.
Alpen Light cereal bars claim to be only 67 kcal but they weigh only 19 grams. Just to give you an idea, a medium apple weighs around 180 grams. The bar is advertised as low in fat and low in sugar, yet the carbohydrate content is 11 grams. By this logic we could start labelling sugar as “LIGHT”.
Check out the extensive ingredient list: Alpen Light Chocolate and Fudge Cereal Bar
Cereals (46%) (Whole Oats, Rice, Whole Wheat), Oligofructose Syrup (27%), Fudge Pieces (9%), Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Condensed Milk, Palm Oil, Milk Butter Fat, Humectant: Glycerol, Emulsifier: Mono & Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Salt), Plain Chocolate (8%) (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Butter, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin, Flavouring), Cereal Flours (Rice, Wheat), Glucose Syrup, Grape Extract, Humectant: Glycerol, Vegetable Oils (Sunflower, Rapeseed), Sugar, Flavouring, Dextrose, Salt, Emulsifier: Soya Lecithin
BETTER OPTION:
a portion of nuts, homemade oat bar, protein bar with much lower sugar content and much higher satiation
and if you’re choosing a low fat cereal bar hoping your craving for chocolate will go away, have that chocolate bar instead, satisfy your craving and move on. Don’t waste your time with these high sugar sticky minuscule nonsense bars.
LOW FAT DIET SALAD DRESSINGS
Perhaps the most important aspect of choosing a low fat salad dressing to be mindful of, is the possible inhibition to absorb some crucial vitamins from your vegetables. Vitamin A,D, E, K are fat soluble vitamins, which will absorb better if consumed together with some dietary fat.
An article published in The American Journal Of Clinical Nutrition measured the differences in bioavailability of carotenoids, when ingested with reduced fat and full fat salad dressing. Carotenoids are beneficial antioxidants that can protect you from disease and enhance your immune system.
On top of that, low fat dressings generally contain added sugar or sweeteners, flavourings, preservatives all of which provide zero nutritional value. And as with the examples above, the fact that fat has been removed makes it less satiating so you only end up eating more of other foods.
BETTER CHOICE:
either use regular dressing, or simply ditch the dressing and instead add some good fats such as good quality olive oil or slices of avocado, goat cheese or any quality cheese, olives, and squeeze some fresh lemon juice all over, which can also help with non-heme iron absorption.
or make your own dressing with “real” ingredients such as soured cream, mustard, honey etc.
