Smart Switches
Low-fat, fat-free, 100-calories and more…which healthier options are worth your effort? By trying different versions of your favorite foods you will be able to decide which choices allow you to cut some calories and which are worth spending a few extra calories on!
There are some foods you will probably find just as palatable as the originals. Many people find fat-free or reduced-fat salad dressings to be perfectly acceptable. Yet very few can tolerate fat-free mayo.
Baked tortilla chips and potato chips are pleasantly crunchy and tasty. There is very little flavor sacrificed in reduced-fat versions of many crackers, too. Reduced-fat cheeses have been greatly improved since they first hit the market in the 90's. They now taste nearly identical to and melt just as well regular cheeses.
Others, you may find, just aren't worth the switch off. Reduced-fat peanut butter brand has only four fewer grams of fat per serving than the regular kind. The calorie count is identical. It's just not worth sacrificing the flavor of regular PB for the sake of a few grams of fat since the calorie count is the same.
Cream-centered sandwich cookies of the reduced-fat variety may save you a few calories per cookie, but you sure will know you're eating a "diet" version of the cookie you once loved. The reduced-fat version of favorite brands saves only five calories a cookie!
The reason? When the makers take out some of the fat, they add more sugar. That makes the calorie count go up while the fat count goes down.
So once again, it's not as simple as just looking at the nutritional numbers. Sometimes you have to also calculate the satisfaction you'll feel after eating—and then try to figure the best plan to follow.
