Browsing the weight loss forums I’m always amazed at the amount of favorable feedback the Fat Loss for Idiots Diet receives from real people sharing their experiences with other real-life people. Among the few negatives, one caught my eye – a complaint that Fat Loss for Idiots says, “eating low-fat foods won’t help you lose weight”. The poster complained that this statement is not true.

Well actually, it is true. Eating low fat foods won’t help you lose weight.

Just because a food is labeled “low-fat” does not mean it is not “fattening” and it certainly does not mean it will actually help you lose weight. In fact, in many cases eating “low-fat” food causes people to gain weight.

Here’s why:

Fat is not the issue, calories are.

People gain weight because they consume more calories than they use up. Low-fat foods do not have significantly less calories than their regular-fat counterparts. On average they have only about 11% fewer calories – nowhere near the 40% less that studies show most people imagine. In fact, most low-fat foods have about the same number of calories as regular-fat versions.

Check out the nutritional values and you’ll see what I mean – there is very little difference between the number of calories in low-fat cookies and regular cookies. See these comparisons of calories in regular and low-fat foods for some actual examples.

As the Fat Loss for Idiots folk neatly point out, sugar contains no fat at all. Does this mean we will lose weight if we eat only sugar? Of course not.

Low-fat foods encourage unhealthy eating habits

Low-fat food options are also marketed as “healthier” because they contain less artery-clogging cholesterol-raising fat. However, “low-fat” is not automatically “healthier.”

• Many if not most foods labeled “low-fat” fall into the snack and indulgence category – chips, cookies, ice creams, cakes. Not only do they contain about the same calories, they are distinctly un-healthy. Low fat or not, they are typically packed with sugar and have little or no nutritional value – only a high number of “empty” unneeded calories that our bodies will convert into (you guessed it) fat.
• The availability of these “healthier” alternatives encourages people to continue snacking on junk foods rather than change their unhealthy eating habits.
• Low-fat label studies at Cornell University have shown that people eat 30% more of a food labeled “low-fat” than they do of the regular fat version, reporting that they feel less guilty about eating the low-fat version. As both versions will have about the same calories, people can (and do) actually gain weight by eating more of the low-fat alternatives. Not only that, but by super-sizing portions they end up eating about the same amount of fat. This is why the availability of countless low-fat foods has had no impact on the problem of obesity. In fact the conclusion at Cornell is that low fat labels contribute to obesity.

So is there any benefit at all to “low-fat” products?

It’s a good question. With low-fat foods having about the same calories and many essentially unhealthy, low fat or not, what is the point of low-fat products?

Low-fat products have value only as part of a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy and informed eating habits. For instance it makes sense to enhance the benefits of a lean steak and salad by opting for a low-fat salad dressing, or a whole-wheat cheese bagel by using low-fat cheese. That is, if “low-fat” is not seen as a green light to drench the salad or double up on the cheese!

Low fat foods have no value when they perpetuate unhealthy eating habits. No amount of low-fat cookies is going to make anyone slimmer or healthier – they are in fact more likely to do the opposite.

It’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand the shortcomings – and risks – of low-fat foods. Low-fat food manufacturers – the biggest winners – have not been anxious to explain the realities. The misguided belief that you can lose weight and become healthier simply by eating low-fat foods has kept the money rolling in. This may soon change – there’s a growing risk of being sued for causing obesity.

So what about low-fat diet plans?

On close analysis, “Low-Fat” diet plans limit calories as well as the amount of fat consumed. It is this reduction in calories, not the reduction in fat intake, that is responsible for any weight loss. By strictly limiting all fat, they also present a danger that the body will not receive enough of the essential “good” fats it needs.

Weight loss programs rooted in reality say very little about fat. For example, the popular Fat Loss for Idiots diet plan simply recommends leaner cuts of meat, not drowning salads in oils and opting for “good” rather than “bad” types of fat where possible – straightforward measures that the FDA recommends too.

This is an original article, exclusive to this site
Copyright © 2010 Caroline Mackenzie