Sugar vs Fat – Which is the Worse Culprit?

Go for fat free’. ‘Use sugar substitutes’ for your beverage to get the taste without the damage!  These are oft repeated advice to help us stick to a healthier diet!

But beware! When we reach for the ‘fat free’ yoghurt, trade-offs which might be more harmful are added to maintain the taste !

Sugar substitute?  When you see a processed product labelled “Sugar Free,” beware! Chemically produced and processed sugar substitutes are disguised under a wide range of names, such as Agave, Aspartame, Stevia, and fruit juice concentrates, to name a few.

Fat gets a bad rap and sugar substitutes get way more credit than they deserve. Contrary to the deeply  entrenched advice, a low-fat diet does not a necessarily mean a healthy one. In fact, fats don’t make you fat, sugar does

So how do you ensure that you only eat the healthy muffin?

Fats

Instead of cutting out fats completely, stick to the right kind – i.e. monosaturated and unsaturated fats that our bodies need and use. A heart-healthy diet actually needs monounsaturated fats which are “good fats.” They help to lower blood cholesterol, and are found in foods such as oils, nuts, seeds, avocado, and oily fish. You are better off not skinning your chicken pieces before cooking as these are natural fats than consuming processed fats.

Sugar

Sugar is sugar and, ultimately, all sugar is broken down in our bodies into glucose, which our cells use for energy. Why bother with substitutes. Just reduce your intake and slowly wean yourselves off it completely for your tea and coffee. You will learn to savour the real taste of tea or coffee without it being camouflaged by the sweetness of sugar.

Instead of the teaspoon of sugar in your beverage, the natural sugar in a piece of fruit is healthier as it also contains vitamins and minerals. Similarly, sugar (lactose) found in milk and dairy products comes with a healthy dose of the vitamins and minerals such as calcium.

Useful Tip:
You’re better off with right-sized portions of the original than trying to fool yourself  with a substitute.