calorie or fat calories

Question
QUESTION: When shopping, I see at times that the item i want comes in "fat free" or "sugar free".  I would like to know which is better for me.

ANSWER: Hello,

Fat free and sugar free are usually put on labels to sell the product.  Typically, fat free items are fat free, but to keep the flavor they add additional calories, carbohydrates, or sugar.  Sugar free items may not have any sugar, but they could have the same amount of fat, carbohydrates, or calories as a regular item.

Basically, you can not hide a sugar or a fat- a sweet is a sweet.  The true benefits of fat free or sugar free is reduce calorie and typically both of these options do that.  Compare the calorie content between the original and the diet version to make your decision.  Typically, sugar free products have less calories (but not all the time, just the majority of the time).

Good luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I want to know which I should pay attention to more and which will help me lose weight.  Will I lose weight quicker by consuming less than 2000 calories and not worring to much about fat calories, or Would I lose weight quicker if I kept my fat calorie intake 50 or less?

Answer
The key to loosing weight is to consume less calories then what you use.  So eating less calories will result in weight loss.

Many high fat foods are also high in calories (fat is a calorie dense nutrient), so more then likely you will be limiting both even if you aim to only limit one.

But to keep it simple, reduce your calorie intake and increase your activity.  You will see the best results with this approach.

Hope this helps.

1. Prev:sugar alcohol
2. Next:Supplements: needs, effects, safety