How To Find Low Fat Foods That Are Good For You

A low-fat diet is no good if the food is so bad you can't eat it - or it's so light and sugary that you are just filling up on empty calories.  A better bet, says a panel of food experts, is to use moderate amounts of full-fat products.  That way you're satisfied at the end of a meal.

Still, low-fat products, which have proliferated in recent years, can help in any heart-healthy diet.  The trick, say food experts consulted by U.S. News, is knowing which products are truly low in fat and which are wasted calories or lousy tasting.  Nutritionists also note that labels on "low fat" foods can be confusing, so check them carefully for sugar and salt content, and the type of fat they contain.  A sampling from the experts:

GO FOR IT

  1. A Taste of Thai Lite Coconut Milk comes skimmed of fat but with all the nutrients of regular coconut milk.  It cooks well, too.

  2. Land O Lakes Fat-Free Half and Half is good in coffee, soups, anything that calls for cream, but it will separate if you boil it too long.

  3. Borden Eagle Brand Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk keeps the nutrition found in dairy products while taking out the fat.  Use it when baking cheesecakes and other desserts.

  4. Tropicana Orange Juice Bars.  Unlike most fruit bars, which are mostly sugar and water, with a drop of juice, Tropicana's are made with real orange juice and provide 35 percent of the daily value for vitamin C.  Healthful frozen-fruit products should list fruit (juice or puree) as the first or second ingredient.

  5. Healthy Choice lunchmeat products contain less salt than other brands and taste decent to boot.  For dieters who don't want to cut out meat, Healthy Choice makes turkey franks, turkey sausages, and deli-style slices, such as honey-roasted and smoked turkey breast.

  6. Friedah's Asian Specialties Wonton Wrappers.  Use them to make empanadas, turnovers, or other filled pastries by stuffing them with your favorite food, coating the wrapper very lightly with oil or low-fat cooking spray, and then baking them in the oven for a crispy, fried texture.

  7. Sunsweet Lighter Bake.  Use this fruit-based spread for baking in place of butter or oil.  The label tells you how to substitute the apple and prune puree for the fat in the recipe.  The product is especially good in cakes and doesn't markedly affect flavor.  But baked goods made with purees don't keep as long as those made with butter or margarine.

THINK TWICE

  1. Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-Ups have a plastic-like texture. The vitamin C is added.  The pears (the "real fruit") are from concentrate.

  2. Snackwell's Chocolate Sandwich Cookies:  What they subtract in fat they make up for in sugar.  In two cookies, there are 110 calories: 3 grams of fat; 210 mg of sodium; and 11 grams of sugars, plus some partially hydrogenated oil.

  3. Creamy Coconut Frozfruit Bars contain 11 grams of fat, more than a comparable serving of vanilla ice cream.  Our testers also advised against Ciao Bella Coconut Sorbetto since it contains 10 grams of fat, 9 of it saturated.

  4. Pretzels are empty, salty calories.  They have nutritional value only if made from fortified flour. Instead, eat a handful of nuts for a good source of protein, monounsaturated fat, minerals and B vitamins.

  5. Fat-Free and Low-Fat Salad Dressings got thumbs up from many nutritionists, but others dislike them because they often taste bad and eliminate "healthy fats."  One better option is Wish-Bone Olive Oil Vinaigrette.  it's low in fat and retains healthy fats.

  6. Quaker 100% Natural Oats & Honey Granola has "as much artery-clogging fat per serving as a couple of hamburgers," said one expert.  Instead, choose low-fat varieties from an array of brands, like Kellogg's Low-Fat Granola or Quaker Low-Fat 100% Natural Granola.

  7. Wonder Fat-Free Multi-Grain Bread contains more yeast than any of the healthier grains.  many high-fiber "light" breads are all or mostly refined white flour.  Often the reduced calorie and sodium count comes simply from thinner slicing.

  8. Nutri-Grain Cereal Bars are mostly enriched white flour and sugar and provide little nutrition for their 140 calories per serving.  The "real fruit" is a sugary filling (13 grams in one bar).

  9. Nestle's Reduced Fat Vanilla Drumsticks have 33 percent less fat than the regular kind and they still give you a cone and chocolate, but at 12 grams (7 of them unsaturated), they have as much fat as a scoop of full-fat ice cream.

  10. Cracker Jack Fat-Free Caramel Corn adds 4 teaspoons of sugar and 80 calories to a serving of the plain stuff. Not as bad as movie-theater popcorn and better than full-fat caramel corn, but not exactly healthy.

By By Jia-Rui Chong
U.S. News & World Report, July 12, 1999, Health Section

Thank you Marilyn!