Low fat foods pack caloric punch

tattoopierced1

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Low-fat foods pack caloric punch - USATODAY.com

BOSTON — People indulge a lot more in low-fat versions of processed foods than in their regular counterparts, and overweight people seem especially vulnerable, according to research presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, an organization of weight-loss professionals.

Such products are seemingly designed to improve health, but they may actually contribute to weight problems, says Brian Wansink of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, N.Y. "We're a nation of low-fat foods and high-fat people."

Wansink, who has done studies on the topic, says some low-fat processed foods, such as candies, have an average of only 15% fewer calories than regular ones, but consumers think they have about 40% fewer calories.

To see how much low-fat labels influence intake, Wansink and colleagues asked more than 250 people at an open house to try some new types and colors of M&Ms. They could eat as much as they wanted. Some participants were offered regular M&Ms; others were offered what they were told was a new low-fat variety of the candy. (There is actually no low-fat version of M&Ms on the market.) The findings:

•Nearly everyone underestimated the calories they had consumed by about 50 to 100.

•Normal-weight people ate on average eight more M&Ms labeled low-fat. Overweight people consumed 23 more of the low-fat candies than the regular ones.

In a related experiment, Wanand i sink and colleagues gave 180 people small bags of granola labeled either regular or low-fat. Participants were told to eat as much as they wanted to while watching the pilot episode of a TV show.

People consumed significantly more of the low-fat versions, roughly 45 to 50 more calories.

Low-fat foods have a "halo effect," and people don't feel as guilty about eating them, says Wansink, author of a new book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. "People see them as a get-out-of-jail-free card."

Overweight people especially "seem to go into denial," he says.

Says Barbara Moore of Shape Up America, a non-profit education group: "Buyer beware. Low-fat is not a license to overeat."



This is true, people think they can eat more, which in turn does nothing for their weight loss goals. I've noticed alot of people at work chit chatting about things they eat, and they grossly underestimate how many calories are in some of their foods, which is why they say "I dont understand why I'm not losing any weight"
 
Skye

Skye

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This is really a problem of people not reading the nutrition labels. My favorite is fat free non dariry creamer, I am not sure what people think they are saving.
 

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