#Myth: Reduced Fat or Sugar Free Alternatives are Always Better

 

You’ve seen them on your favourite grocery items: zero-sugar yoghurt, reduced-fat cookies, low-calorie popcorn… Often times, these popular buzzwords are simply used as basic marketing ploys to make a product seem healthier than it really is. But how do they actually hold up? Are these alternatives that much healthier?

Unfortunately, the picture isn’t always so clear.

1. What is lost often gets replaced

As you might have guessed, for a product to taste the same as the original (while containing a lower amount of sugar or fat), it often means that food additives are involved in the manufacturing process. The word “food additive” is a general term for any ingredient that is added to products to help enhance their flavour, texture, appearance or length of preservation.

When choosing modified “healthier” versions of your usual ingredients, it’s important to remember to make use of the ingredients list and nutrition facts table in order to compare the two products. This is because sugar can be often time be replaced by fat or salt, and fat can be replaced by sugar or salt ─ otherwise meaning that it doesn’t necessarily make the product any healthier than it was before.

Make more informed decisions by using the tools you have on hand.

That is, does the reduced-fat salad dressing have the same amount of sugar and salt as the original version? Is the ingredients list longer and filled with ingredients you don’t know?

…and what about artificial sweeteners?

Among the many types of food additives present in our foods, artificial sweeteners are some of the most popular food additives out there, and the use of artificial sweeteners has significantly increased in its popularity over the last years. This is because of the fact that these sugar substitutes have been shown to give foods a sweet taste without raising any blood sugar levels, all the while also containing much fewer calories.

Should we be deeply concerned of its use? Fortunately enough, food additives have strict regulations and are subject to thorough examinations before being accepted for any use in Canada. Generally speaking, however eating a moderate amount of food additives is considered to be safe.

2. Beware of highly-processed foods

Low-fat or low-sugar claims are almost always found on highly-processed products. In some cases, making low-fat or low-sugar alternatives can sometimes even increase the transformation process. It is commonly known that eating highly processed foods is linked with a higher risk of developing certain chronic illnesses. That being the case, it’s more important to reduce our consumption of highly-processed foods than it is to reduce our consumption of sugar or fat. By eating more whole foods, it is by de facto much more difficult to eat excess sugar, salt or unhealthy fat.

Be critical and choose carefully!

It can be easy to fall for the nutritional claims found on food packaging ─ which is why it’s important to remember that these claims are more often than not used as a simple way to make products seem much healthier than they really are. With that in mind, it’s important to always scratch past the surface and to find more about the product. Here are a few helpful tips & tricks to always keep in mind:

  • Make use of the nutrition facts table and ingredients list — They are there to help guide you!

  • Prioritize eating whole foods over highly processed foods — And have fun in finding variety.

  • The key is moderation — Find a healthy balance that works best for you.

What’s your favourite way to include more whole foods into your diet?

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Laura NguyenComment