You know when you slather butter on a baked potato or indulge in a cheesy plate of nachos that you’re not exactly eating low fat. But some other foods contain a lot more fat than you probably think. They’re not imposters, pretending to be good for you when they’re really not, but they can sneak a lot more fat into your diet than you were planning. Overdoing it on the fats not only packs on the pounds, it can clog your arteries and make you more susceptible to heart disease and other health problems.
For our October issue, on newsstands now, our food experts recently took a look at dozens of foods and found that there are big diffs in the fat content of some similar products that sit next to each other on store shelves. For example, Cedar’s Garlic Lovers Hommus contains 75 percent less fat than Sabra Roasted Garlic Hummus, and Wish-Bone Mediterranean Italian dressing contains half as much fat as Wish-Bone House Italian. So you’ll want to read labels closely before you buy.
Check out the issue to see whether, for instance, Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers had more or less fat than Cheez-It Baked Snack Crackers Scrabble Juniors!
We found some telltale ingredients and descriptions that indicate that a product may contain extra fat, so watch labels for these clues:
• “Creamy”
• Fried
• Ingredients like egg yolks and cheese
• Oil or butter in the top few ingredients
A good goal: If you eat 2,000 calories daily, aim for less than 65 grams of total fat, with saturated fat making up fewer than 20 of those grams. And try to avoid trans fats altogether! Your heart and your hips will thank you.
Kathryn Fenner
11:30:24 AM on Tue Sep 13 2011
So much scientific research in the last decade or more points to the perils of low-fat eating and that full-fat and plenty of it is perfectly fine for you, subject to calorie limits, and that eschewing fat can cause blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance. Why are you still hawking this outdated theory?
Lisa Miller
05:58:53 PM on Thu Oct 13 2011
I completely agree with Kathryn. I am shocked that CR is not current with the research regarding fats as pertaining to CVD and obesity. Hawking "low-fat" is so last decade.