Challenge Day 9 – Get Rid of the Low-Fat Food & Drinks. They’re Making You Fat!
by Dr. Rachael
- Updated February 13, 2023
by Dr. Rachael
- February 13, 2023
Table of Contents
Get Rid of the ‘low-fat’ food & Diet Drinks. They’re Making You FAT.
You’ve seen him, it may even have been you at some point. He goes into the restaurant and orders the largest burger, a basket of fries, and an appetizer, but then orders a large diet soda. It makes sense, right? Eat what you like and wash it all down with something that won’t make you fat. In theory, yes, but in practice the opposite is true.
There’s something about diet soda that seems the opposite effect. A recent 14-yr study followed 66,118 women. The results will make you reevaluate diet drinks.
1) Diet sodas raised the risk of developing diabetes more than sugar-sweetened sodas! Women who drank one 12-ounce diet soda had a 33% increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, and women who drank one 20-ounce soda had a 66% increased risk
2) Women who drank diet sodas drank twice as much as those who drank sugar-sweetened sodas
3) The average diet soda drinker consumes three diet drinks a day.
Artificial sweeteners are
Artificial sweeteners are 1000s of times sweeter than real sugar so it tricks the body into thinking you’ve had a sugary snack and you haven’t. So your body is all primed up and ready, thinking sugar is on the way, so fat storage hormones are released, and before you know it, it’s deposited as belly fat. Your metabolism slows down, and the fact that you haven’t really satisfied your real sugar craving, you are hungrier and crave even more starchy foods. So perhaps it’s your beloved diet soda making it so hard to lose weight!
So if you are not convinced about diet soda being bad for you, let’s move on to the ‘low-fat’ ‘low-calorie,’ foods in your kitchen. Now before we dive into this discussion, think back to when you were your perfect weight and/or size….I imagine for most of you it wasn’t during a time when you were eating a bunch of low-calorie snack packs. It was at a moment when you were probably younger and more active. Well here’s the skinny of the ‘low-fat craze,’ studies found that if researchers put ‘low-fat’ labels of food items, there’s a tendency for people to eat 50% more.
Studies found that the average person
A few studies found that the average person who ate ‘low-fat’ food overestimated how much was considered an appropriate serving size by 25%. Imagine if you were doing this all day long. 25% too many low-fat cheese, 25% too many low fat crackers, 25% too much low-fat salad dressing, etc.
How many times have you purchased the low calorie snack packs, only to eat three in one setting? I used to try this with my vice, Oreo Cookies! They came out with a box of snack packs and I went through the whole box in three days. Now, I just limit myself to two cookies. It’s much more enjoyable!!
Instead of going ‘low-fat,’ balance your meals so that you eat a protein source and a healthy fat every sitting, A Harvard study followed two groups of people eating the same number of calories except one group ate their calories as a ‘low-fat’ diet and the other group ate their calories as protein and fat. The group that ate protein and fat had a much higher metabolism than the ‘low-fat’ diet group. ALL CALORIES ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL!!
My patients that eat the most diet food and drink the most diet soda are the ones with the biggest problem losing weight. So, move away from the hype, and get back to the basics! I’ll give you some tips to help!!! On this day and everyday of the #30DaySuccessChallenge, get rid of the diet sodas and low-fat food and get back to the basics of healthy eating!
So Here are some tips!
1) If you are an overeater, don’t buy diet food. Buy the real stuff and just work on managing your portions.
2) Read labels and start to understand how servings work. Know what a real serving size is and measure it out if you are in doubt.
3) Your palate evolves as you mature, opt for drinks lightly sweetened with non-artifical sweeteners (honey, molasses, agave, maple syrup, etc).
4) If you want a juice, make it yourself using fresh or frozen fruit
Article by
Rachael L. Ross MD, PhDAs a family doctor and a sexologist.
Dr. Rachael Ross has been heralded as “The next Dr. Ruth, the nationally renowned sexual therapist who pioneered frank sex talk.” Chicago Tribune. Dr. Rachael earned her M.D. from Meharry Medical College and her Ph.D. from the American Academy of Clinical Sexologists, along with a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, where she studied anthropology.