What's Actually in Your 'Diet' Foods?

How often do you stroll down the aisles of the supermarket and pick up a light, low-fat or diet version of a food you love instead of the standard option? Most of us will weigh up whether or not we should go for the healthier option in a bid to lose weight or simply improve our diets, but is this really the best thing?

While diet versions of food usually make a big deal out of the fact they are low in fat, it seems that this is being replaced with sugar, making them a lot more unhealthy than you think. In fact, many ‘healthy’ versions of food contain more sugar than their full-fat counterparts, meaning they are still having a huge effect on your diet and health.

A new study has found eating high-sugar, low-fat foods actually caused more weight gain than eating regular foods in a balanced way. This suggests that sticking to your ‘diet’ options could actually see you piling on the pounds faster than if you were eating the standard foods.

According to the researchers, most products that claim to be diet and have low or no fat contain higher levels of sugar, which people don’t realise. While reducing saturated fat intake can help with weight management, it will have little impact if you’re eating a lot of sugar.

While the sugar helps to improve the flavour of products once the fat is removed, the researchers highlighted the fact that it can also lead to liver damage and obesity, neither of which are what you want from products that are meant to be healthy!

The study compared what differences are caused by a low-fat, high-sugar diet and a high-fat, high-sugar one. In both cases, the diet resulted in weight gain and increased body fat, as well as more liver fat. In comparison, a balanced diet eating regular foods in moderation saw positive results when it came to losing or maintaining weight.

This suggests that rather than picking up all the diet products when you do your weekly food shop, you should stick to standard foods but pay more attention to portion size and how you’re cooking everything.

Cutting down on the amount of food on your plate and reducing how much oil you use in cooking are great ways to lose weight and improve your health, while paying attention to fat and sugar will also make weight loss easier. Looking at food labels can help you do this easier while cooking in an ActiFry will deliver delicious food with fewer calories.

If you want some more great tips for losing weight or improving your health, even when enjoying the foods you love, find out what our Slimmers’ Secrets are here.