Is there a benefit in low fat foods? Do they help you lose weight? Or are all these just gimmicks, and in fact they not only do not benefit, but also harm the body? Let's try to figure it out …
First, let's figure out how products are defatted?
Usually, animal fats in milk, kefir, mayonnaise are replaced with soy fats - soy isolate and soy flour are used. At the same time, the nutritional composition of the product changes: there are more proteins, and less fat-soluble acids. Decreases the amount of cholesterol and saturated fatty acids. Since the consistency of the product suffers due to a decrease in fat, additives appear in the composition: various stabilizers and thickeners. Often they have no energy value and can be very useful for our body, such as algae. But starch is also used, which cannot be called useful (especially genetically modified), although its calorie content is half that of fat.
Often animal fat is replaced with vegetable fat: the most common case is "light" mayonnaise. Moreover, they do not contain trans fats (as well as in quality spreads), but there are useful polyunsaturated fatty acids.
All attention is on the labels!
If you are trying to lose weight, then the amount of fat really needs to be limited (but within reasonable limits). Give preference to fat-free foods. Judge for yourself: let's say you drink 3 glasses of milk a day. With a fat content of 3.5%, this is 22 (!) G of fat, and with a fat content of 0.5% - only 3 g! Moreover, scientists have proven that almost all nutrients are preserved in skim milk. Of course, a certain amount of vitamins will be lost, but manufacturers take care of this, enriching their product with them additionally. There is no evidence that they are absorbed worse. What can not be said about calcium … Unfortunately, calcium from milk with a fat content of less than 1.5% is absorbed worse, so it is better to alternate foods with a low and optimal fat content.
And read the labels carefully! Very often, low-fat foods contain excess starches and sugars. It also happens that the manufacturer indicates the wrong fat content of the product, so trust only trusted brands and farms. And take into account the emotional moment: often a person can go over calories for the reason that, they say, "this is a dietary product, which means you can eat a lot!".
How to get the best results from a low fat diet?
On a low fat diet, the level of "bad" cholesterol is reduced and the level of "good" cholesterol is increased. This leads to a decrease in the risk of atherosclerosis. But it is important not only to reduce fat content, but also to give preference to vegetable fats (oils) and fish oil. These are the types of fats that should account for 25% of your daily energy requirement! Lack of fat leads, paradoxically, to increased levels of "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides in plasma. Decreased glucose tolerance. In addition, a person intuitively becomes prone to overeating carbohydrates.
Take the Scandinavian diet (northern Mediterranean) as an example, and do not forget that without active sports, the matter will not argue!
