If you think that low fat means low kilojoules, read on...

Often and especially in manufactured food products, reduced fat items have more sugar added to them to enhance their flavour, and this sugar also contributes kilojoules to the final product, making it very similar in kilojoules to the regular version. We also often think that by choosing the low-fat version of the food, we can eat more of it. If you’re watching your weight, this will only sabotage your efforts.

Here are examples where the differences in kilojoules between regular versions and reduced fat versions of foods are very small or non-existent:

3 small regular chocolate cookies: 630 kJ; 4.5g fat
3 small low-fat chocolate cookies: 670 kJ; 7g fat

2 tablespoons of regular peanut butter: 800 kJ, 16g fat
2 tablespoons of reduced fat peanut butter: 800 kJ, 12g fat

So although it is a good idea to limit your fat intake, especially of the unhealthy types, it helps to know that sometimes there is not much of a kilojoule difference between the low-fat (or fat-free) version of a food compared to its regular version.

Before grabbing the reduced fat product off the shelf next time, first compare the kilojoules of the same quantity of each version (regular and reduced fat) and make a call. Also if you really like the taste of a particular higher fat food, have it, but just keep an eye on your kilojoules by controlling your portion.

And if you think that eating low-fat or fat-free foods permits you to eat more of a specific food, perhaps you should have a re-think.