Have you also been in the habit of going for any food with the prefix "low"? Or perhaps you've been seeing people around you talk so much about them, and you wonder as if you're from a different planet.
Thank goodness you're here now; you too will have firsthand information on what this category of food contains and who should be having them.
When foods that naturally contain a good amount of fat, or sugar have their fats or sugar removed to their barest minimum during production processing, then they are tagged "low-fat" or "low-sugar". That is when the fat contents are reduced or removed in milk; it is later called "Low-fat milk".
However, the production processes used in reducing certain food nutrients from the foods vary from food to food and even the type of food.
Many health care professionals have in most recent times recommended the consumption of foods low in fat, sugar and so on to many, according to the patient's health status, and overall wellness.
In the world today, there has been a new awakening of the people regarding their food choices and many other frivolities that may come with good health. As many scientific pieces of research and studies have identified the excessive use of processed foods like sugars and salt to be major triggers and causes of many diseases. The food production industry has realized that many health-related issues caused healthcare practitioners to always recommend dietary changes to most patients, which in turn pulls a restriction on the purchase of their products and is unfavourable to their business. And since the industry is mostly after the profits, they, in turn, decided to step up their game and now capitalize on the people's ignorance.
I often hear people complain severally about how they eat all sorts of foods labelled as "low-fat", "low- sugar" low cholesterol" etc., and are still not losing body fats as they expected. Or are still having no significant change in health and their disease conditions never got better.
Many beverage products claim to be "sugar-free" but are "sweeteners-filled". Sweeteners come in varying forms and with different names. Part of which will include cane sugar, sucrose, or glucose-fructose, commonly called table sugar, fructose, or fruit sugar, glucose, or dextrose, Sugar substitute, or artificial sweetener, Syrups, agave syrup, or agave nectar, maple syrup, corn syrup, High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), honey, unrefined sweetener
Nowadays, because of the "fat-free", "sugar-free", and "heart-healthy" titles foods have on their packs/labels, many people consume those foods without paying attention to portion size, or even the nutrition labels on it. These sets of people, in the long run, eat more than they should. Hence, they see only increasing figures on the scale.
Aside from the other harmful effects and dependence that sweeteners may cause in the body and to the mind, they also get converted into fats and increase the sizes of fat cells in the body. Reasons why we have many people still overweight even while having a lot of foods in this category.
Many people would have been better off eating "full cream", "fried foods" and all the one time "condemned" foods, with a consciousness that what they are eating is junk, so they limit the quantity that they consume at a time.
This is where the application of the magical word "portion" or "Portion size" comes to play. Here is the golden rule; "eat all foods according to your health goal in moderation and remember to stay active."
Let it be known to you that no food is a saint or not. All foods/ fruits are good by nature. They all have their individual benefits to life. All foods (and fruits) are given for our consumption. So we ought to distribute consumption amongst all whole food classes.
But when we fail to eat varieties, we end up with the deadly effects of a type/class of food's overconsumption, and deficiency of the other food nutrients.
Know that food or diet should be followed according to an individual's health status, nutrient requirements, fitness or activity level, lifestyle, professions, etc. These are more reasons why diet or meal plans are not a "one-size-fits-all", you should consult a professional Dietitian-nutritionist if you need one.
Most honest and professional advice is to have your foods prepared in the kitchen, with utmost consciousness of the ingredients going down into its making.
We recommend that you make those fries or fruit shakes and juices that you crave in your home. At least you can be sure you're using healthy oils, the right natural ingredients and no additives in preparations.
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