Low fat & fat free food controversy on the Monkey Diet

Monkey’s Beware of the Fat Free Food World

Fact or Fiction? The Hauser Monkey Diet is a higher carb, lower fat and protein diet…fact. This means you need to purchase all foods that say low-fat or fat-free…fiction! Although the Monkey Diet stresses complex carbs and limiting fat intake, we do not want patients to get stuck in a fat free craze. We want you to purchase and eat foods that are naturally low in fat, not items that are processed to end up fat free. Remember, this is a diet that is low in fat…not fat free! Here are some foods that people may tend to purchase low fat or fat free versions of. Find out if you really need to go that route or if buying the standard will leave you better off.

Milk
This is one of the few foods where buying fat free would be a good option for Monkey’s. Fat free/skim milk is more or less still natural and minimally processed, but organic is best. However, there are other options if you want to stay away from dairy. Almond milk, rice milk, and oat milk are all naturally low in fat. Just watch for sugars and purchase the original flavors instead of vanilla or chocolate!

Bagels & other Breads
Have you ever seen fat free or reduced fat bagels? I remember laughing the first time I saw them. Things like bagels, whole grain bread, or whole grain English muffins tend to have an extremely low fat content naturally, there is no reason to purchase one of these foods in their fat free versions. A regular plain bagel has 2 grams of fat in it. Eliminating those 18 calories and taking on the additives that are then used as a replacement is really not worth it. Stick to the old fashioned versions for better health!

Peanut Butter
Here’s another classic case of marketing at work. Of course the best option here is to do organic nut butters which are always in their natural states. But, if you are going for the big brands, do not be fooled. The reduced fat options have the same amount of calories per serving as the original—they just have more sugar! And don’t be taken by the low sugar version either. A serving, size based on what the container says, of regular peanut butter only has 3 grams of sugar to begin with contrary to what many might want you to believe! You can’t eat a lot, but go for the good stuff when you do have it.

Mayonnaise
Don’t buy reduced fat mayo! Yes, it has a lot less calories, but whenever they take something out, they put something else in. Comparing the ingredients of the regular fat versus reduced fat, there are 12 ingredients in the reduced fat version that say "not used in regular mayonnaise" after them. That in itself should be scary. If over half the ingredients aren’t in typical mayo, then is reduced fat mayo really mayonnaises? Think about that!

Also, keep in mind that a big part of a Monkey’s diet is vegetables and whole grains. Eating the proper amount of fresh produce each day will help make your choices a little easier. There won’t be much room for fake, processed foods if you stick your Hauser Diet Plan. You will be able to get in the right amount of good, healthy fats just by eating old fashioned regular food!

NEXT: Good Fats for the Monkey