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In commercials, they look very appetizing: yoghurts are tender and creamy, filling them with fruits are fresh and juicy. The faces of household members who use light butter or mayonnaise express bliss, the eyes of housewives express satisfaction. Are these products as useful as it is commonly believed?
Recurring commercials urge you to forget about boring diets, presenting lightweight foods as almost tastier than regular ones. Little by little, a paradoxical idea creeps into our brain: you can eat any number of foods marked light and still not gain weight and even lose weight! The situation reaches the point of absurdity when you hear: “I’ve been preparing my favorite Olivier on Light mayonnaise for half a year, but for some reason I’m still not losing weight …”
Light foods “work” on the principle of inclusion: when we eat a product, we unconsciously appropriate its properties to ourselves and expect to become slimmer. But because of the “lightness” we consider the food eaten insignificant and increase the amount of food absorbed. Which is completely natural: not getting enough calories, the body requires supplements. In addition, we seem to get an indulgence for some excesses: “I ate “lite” once a lunch, I can finally afford a piece of chocolate cake.” How not to fall into this trap? First of all, let’s learn some facts about “light” foods and how they are made.
Non-oily oil
The phrases “light oil”, “light mayonnaise” mean that some of the animal components in this product are replaced by vegetable ones. This allows the consumer to think that the product is “low-cholesterol”, and the manufacturer to significantly reduce the cost of this product. In the “light” oil, the fat content is lower – up to 20-40% instead of 80%. Reducing the percentage of fat content changes the consistency of the oil: it becomes softer. This allows you to spread it on bread with a thinner layer. But, on the other hand, the reduction in fat content comes at the expense of the creamy taste, and we do not get the expected satisfaction from it.
Magic yogurts
These products always evoke associations with health and harmony. They can be natural, fruit, chocolate – all types of yogurts exist in a light version. This means that their fat content is reduced to 1,5% or even 0,5%. But the more ingredients (fruits, cereals …) are included in yogurt, the greater its energy value. Let’s say lightweight natural (1% fat, no additives) yogurt contains 40 calories. If the yogurt is fruit, its energy value increases to 60 calories, as in the usual natural 3,5 percent fat content.
The second pitfall: the size of the jars. We see ads “Now + 25% free!” so often that it’s time to ask ourselves: “Do we really need this 25%?” Today, in the dairy department, you can find jars from 70 to 180 g. But 180 g of fruit yogurt, even lightened, is equivalent in calories to 70 g of a full-fledged chocolate dessert. In that case, maybe it’s better to prefer something that brings more pleasure?
Sweet addiction
Produced on the basis of synthetic sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame), which are 200-300 times sweeter than sugar, “light” carbonated drinks keep their promises. A can of light cola contains 1 calorie (or, as the manufacturers say, “approximately 0 calories”), while a can of regular cola contains 148. The paradox is that if you drink drinks labeled light occasionally, the difference in calories will not have a significant impact on the figure. But with regular use, they can cause addiction to sweets. And fix cravings for desserts, cakes, drinks with added sugar – be it even tea or coffee.
Now about chewing gum and refreshing candies that say “no sugar” on the wrapper: they contain about the same calories as regular ones. Their advantage is not in “lightness”, but in the fact that they reduce the likelihood of caries.
Calculations change everything
Such an indicator as the percentage of fat content can be misleading, because “fat content” is not an absolute concept, but a relative one. For example, on the packaging of mascarpone cheese, the frightening figure “80% fat” is indicated – it automatically falls into the list of too fatty foods. But if we take a closer look, we will find the clarifying “in relation to the dry matter.” And where the percentage of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in 100 g of the product is indicated, “40 g of fat” appears. That is, in fact, this product of 40 percent fat content is no more fatty than some types of hard cheeses. The same rule applies to granular cottage cheese and homemade cheese, in which 20% fat (in relation to dry matter) turns into 4 grams of fat per 100 g of product – almost like in normalized milk (3,6%). It makes more sense to focus on the calorie content. For example, 100 g of 15% fat sour cream contains approximately 170 kcal. Classic mayonnaise – 650 kcal, and low-calorie – 480 kcal. Judge for yourself – it is better to choose sour cream.
Confusion in the mind
The terms “diet”, “low calorie” and “healthy” foods create confusion in our minds. Dietary products are created mainly for people with metabolic problems: for example, for diabetics, sugar is replaced with xylitol. “Healthy” foods – enriched with dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals – do not belong to the category of low-calorie foods. For example, “enriched” whole grain bread with sunflower seeds, flax seeds, raisins, or nuts is much more caloric than regular bread. The same can be said about muesli: the high content of cereal flakes and dried fruits makes this product very high in calories. A minimum of such a product provides the body with maximum energy for a long time – this is precisely the idea of creating them. And it has nothing to do with slimness.
The nature of taste
“Milk without milk”, “butter without butter” – all this creates a feeling of incompleteness, lifelessness, like “sex without sex”. Living life to the fullest, eating natural, rich foods, tasting them, being aware of what you are eating is the only way to truly saturate your body. And, feeling this saturation, naturally dose the amount of food. People who worry about their weight tend to replace food with the satisfaction of some other needs. From this point of view, the illusion product is not only not useful, but even harmful. It does not saturate the body, does not allow you to feel the full satisfaction of your nutritional needs, and as a result does not make it possible to separate the need for food from other needs. If you slowly and with pleasure eat a full meal, and after a short time you feel that you want something else, it’s time to ask yourself: what exactly do you want? Maybe your being wants a completely different “food”: communication, care, attention, sex? This moment of realizing your true needs is the first step to getting rid of food addiction. The second is to find an opportunity to satisfy these needs: intellectual, emotional, bodily. This is more difficult, problems with their satisfaction may lie at a deeper level – they can be identified by a specialist.
Olga Dolgopolova, gestalt therapist, candidate of psychological sciences, employee of the Moscow Institute of Gestalt and Psychodrama.