Light products fattening? Hell yes! Tip of the week 13

Are light products fattening? Yes they are. So why are they called light? There are quite a few loopholes that manufacturers of light products slyly cycle through.

As for soft drinks, it is indeed slightly better to opt for the light variants because the regular soft drinks are really high in sugars.

However, limit it to one to two glasses a day. In light soft drinks, the sugars have been replaced by sweeteners that can put additional strain on the liver if consumed regularly.

Replacing regular chips with light chips will also not do much good when you want to lose weight. It is true that light chips contain less fat than regular chips but despite this, they are still a fattener.

A handful of regular crisps contains about 55 Kcal a handful of light 45 Kcal. So it makes almost no difference.

There is also the danger that light crisps will make you eat more, 'because it's light after all'.

As a result, you will unwittingly ingest even more calories than when opting for the plain version!

So 'light' by no means means means 'slim'. On the contrary, light products are indeed sneaky fatteners.

If you still like to sin a little every now and then, it is of course better to choose light products but don't automatically start eating or drinking more of them 'because it is light.' Keep the responsible portions to!

An item may be labelled 'light' if it contains at least 30% less fat, sugar or carbohydrates. When a package says there is less fat in that product, it does not mean it also contains less sugars!

Sometimes the packaging doesn't say it contains sugar but it does say 'glucose' or 'fructose' under the ingredients Then 'it all seems a little less bad while it's still secretly a calorie bomb'.

Sometimes plain products even contain less Kcal than the light products. For example, plain chip sauce contains fewer Kcal than light mayonnaise!

So keep reading packaging carefully!

This week you may also weigh yourself! Click >HERE for handy weighing and measuring tips.

The above text previously appeared in the Balance book. The book is now sold out, but may still be available to order second-hand via the link below.

The Balance Book

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