Low Fat Food? Think Again

It was quite fun watching this documentary about processed low fat food that is commonly sold over the counters in grocery shops. It featured a British TV personality Zoe Salmon, who was put through a 4-week "low fat diet", and at the same time, recorded the changes she had been through and how she had felt throughout the 4-week diet.

BBC Horizon: The Big Fat Truth About Low Fat Foods

These are the key messages I get from the documentary:

• Processed low fat food is not the same as natural low fat food.
• Food which is low in fat typically don't taste so good.
• In processed low fat food, when fat is removed from the food, manufacturers have to replace it with sugar or alternative sweeteners to improve the taste of the food.
• The added sugar and alternative sweeteners result in more frequent hunger pangs and makes a person eat more frequently.
• Interestingly, low calorie processed food may still contain high levels of artificial sweeteners which deliver the same damaging impact on our body, just like sugar do.
• In general, when food is processed, it loses a lot of its nutrients. Therefore, going on a diet with processed low fat food will deprive the body of essential nutrients and antioxidants.
• Processed food, as compared to natural food, breaks down faster in our digestive system, thus increasing the amount of glucose in the body, which may result in higher risk of getting diabetes and other diseases.
• Instead of helping consumers lose weight, processed low fat food may actually cause weight gain and increased body fat due to the increase of glucose in the blood. The over supply of glucose will also be converted into body fat.

Choose natural whole food which is low in fat, and NOT processed low fat food. There's a whole lot of difference. Don't be fooled by the "low fat" label.