There is something intrinsically appealing about the word 'free'. Ordinarily, in the world of consumers and suppliers, 'free' would mean 'a little more'. But when associated with food, 'free' takes on an altogether new meaning. It then suddenly comes to mean 'a little less'. And a 'little less' adds up to 'healthy'.
The market today is flooded with food items which claim to be sugar-free, fat-free or cholesterol-free. There are sugar-free ice-creams and yoghurt, desserts, jams and chocolates, fat-free and cholesterol-free cookies or peanut and potato snacks, cholesterol-free edible oils and more. You could be a diabetic, but still enjoy your sugar-free jams and jalebis. You could be overweight and still dig into that packet of fat-free potato chips or reach out for diet sodas without unpleasant guilt pangs. Or, you could have a heart condition and still enjoy cholesterol-free desserts. And herein lies the catch. "Free is very misleading," says Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist, founder of health food company Whole FoodsIndia and founder president of Celiac Society for Delhi. "A snack which claims to be cholesterol-free might, in fact, be loaded with trans fats which can do far greater damage to the body," says Khosla. "If a food item cuts down on fat, it is compelled to increase carbohydrates, which is counterproductive, especially for people with diabetes." If one serving of a food item contains 0.5 gm of trans fat, it can claim to be trans fat-free, which doesn't help the case of people with obesity.
Khosla hits the nail on the head when she says: "When choosing a health food, look for what it has rather than what it doesn't have." Take, for example, digestive biscuits. These semi-sweet biscuits are said to be less fattening and hence a healthier option to regular biscuits. "Digestive biscuits are high on fibre, no doubt. But they are also high on fat," says nutritionist Rekha Karthik, the co-founder and COO of online wellness company ChiHealth. "In comparison to these, arrowroot biscuits are a better option. These are high on fibre and low on fat."
Look at certain baked health biscuits and crackers too. Study the ingredients and you will find that they are by no means low in fat, calories, carbohydrates or sugar. The claim that they are prepared with rice, wheat, corn and oats also implies that they are loaded with carbohydrates. So, baked need not necessarily be healthier.
One particular claim which unsuspecting buyers are known to fall for is of "100 per cent cholesterol-free vegetable oil." On their menus, several food chains make the claim that the dishes have been "cooked in 100 per cent cholesterol-free vegetable oil." You would find "100 per cent cholesterol-free" stamped on vegetable oil bottles too. And you'd be happy to pay extra for this healthier edible oil. "But the fact is that vegetable oils do not contain cholesterol in the first place," says Karthik. "Only oils from animal sources, such as ghee, have cholesterol and not the ones extracted from plants."
In an age where we want to make as few compromises as possible, sugar-free sweets and desserts have hit a jackpot. Take the case of ice-cream. Because it is labelled as 'sugar-free', it might be tempting to go for two scoops instead of one. And that's the first mistake you make if you are watching your weight. Because sugar-free does not mean calorie-free. Besides, to retain the sweetness of the treat, makers of the product often opt for artificial sweeteners, some of which can harm the body in the long run. So, instead of going 'sugar-free', get 'sugar-smart'.
There are those like Whole Foods that add sweetness though natural means such as raisins, honey and jaggery. And then there are those which will end up feeding you plenty of sugar in disguise. Watch out for words like sucrose, lactose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, galactose, grape sugar, aspartame, mannitol and sorbitol (both sugar alcohols that contain a fair amount of carbohydrates and are harmful for diabetics, especially for people with Type 1 diabetes, if consumed in excess).
There are, of course, brands like Stute Diabetic Jam which will tell you upfront that the product contains sorbitol and also mention the safe quantity to consume. Excessive consumption of sugar alcohols can cause diarrhoea and bloating. Products from abroad usually have the ingredients listed out as mandated by laws there. However, in India, implementation of similar regulations is lax. Even so, read the label and the fine print carefully.
Of artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular has been at the centre of several medical controversies. There have been reports that it causes nausea, headaches, allergic reactions, dizziness and even memory loss and seizures. But research has failed to prove this. The US Food and Drug Administration has said that an aspartame intake of 50 mg per kilogram of body weight is safe.
Even so, many health food companies are beginning to avoid aspartame. Kunal Pabrai, founder of Fresh & Naturelle which has a range of sugar-free ice creams, says: "We use fructo-oligosaccharide, which is a fourth generation sweetener, in our sugar-free ice creams." Fructo-oligosaccharides are sweeteners prepared from plant sources like asparagus or soybeans and are used as prebiotics that stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system.
Cocoberry, which has a range of cold desserts and frozen yoghurts, also offers zero-sugar variants. "The sugar substitute we use is sucralose, which does not enter the blood stream," says Rahul Deans, the CEO of Cocoberry. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is non-caloric. But while yogurt is a healthier option to ice-cream, Cocoberry, says Deans, would rather look at itself as a trendy option than health food.
Unlike ice-creams, which are often an occasional indulgence, diet colas are known to become a habit. Several diet colas use sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, both of which have been classified as mild irritants to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes by the UK Food Commission. Many of them also contain advanced glycation end products which are formed by a combination of carbohydrates, fat and proteins and are said to lead to age-related diseases.
"No matter how healthy a product claims itself to be, I would not experiment by binging on it," says Pabrai, summing up, "Even when it is diet food you are going for, it's best to consume it in moderate quantities."
READ BEFORE YOU EAT
Sugar can be hidden as
The market today is flooded with food items which claim to be sugar-free, fat-free or cholesterol-free. There are sugar-free ice-creams and yoghurt, desserts, jams and chocolates, fat-free and cholesterol-free cookies or peanut and potato snacks, cholesterol-free edible oils and more. You could be a diabetic, but still enjoy your sugar-free jams and jalebis. You could be overweight and still dig into that packet of fat-free potato chips or reach out for diet sodas without unpleasant guilt pangs. Or, you could have a heart condition and still enjoy cholesterol-free desserts. And herein lies the catch. "Free is very misleading," says Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist, founder of health food company Whole FoodsIndia and founder president of Celiac Society for Delhi. "A snack which claims to be cholesterol-free might, in fact, be loaded with trans fats which can do far greater damage to the body," says Khosla. "If a food item cuts down on fat, it is compelled to increase carbohydrates, which is counterproductive, especially for people with diabetes." If one serving of a food item contains 0.5 gm of trans fat, it can claim to be trans fat-free, which doesn't help the case of people with obesity.
* * *
Khosla hits the nail on the head when she says: "When choosing a health food, look for what it has rather than what it doesn't have." Take, for example, digestive biscuits. These semi-sweet biscuits are said to be less fattening and hence a healthier option to regular biscuits. "Digestive biscuits are high on fibre, no doubt. But they are also high on fat," says nutritionist Rekha Karthik, the co-founder and COO of online wellness company ChiHealth. "In comparison to these, arrowroot biscuits are a better option. These are high on fibre and low on fat."
Look at certain baked health biscuits and crackers too. Study the ingredients and you will find that they are by no means low in fat, calories, carbohydrates or sugar. The claim that they are prepared with rice, wheat, corn and oats also implies that they are loaded with carbohydrates. So, baked need not necessarily be healthier.
One particular claim which unsuspecting buyers are known to fall for is of "100 per cent cholesterol-free vegetable oil." On their menus, several food chains make the claim that the dishes have been "cooked in 100 per cent cholesterol-free vegetable oil." You would find "100 per cent cholesterol-free" stamped on vegetable oil bottles too. And you'd be happy to pay extra for this healthier edible oil. "But the fact is that vegetable oils do not contain cholesterol in the first place," says Karthik. "Only oils from animal sources, such as ghee, have cholesterol and not the ones extracted from plants."
* * *
In an age where we want to make as few compromises as possible, sugar-free sweets and desserts have hit a jackpot. Take the case of ice-cream. Because it is labelled as 'sugar-free', it might be tempting to go for two scoops instead of one. And that's the first mistake you make if you are watching your weight. Because sugar-free does not mean calorie-free. Besides, to retain the sweetness of the treat, makers of the product often opt for artificial sweeteners, some of which can harm the body in the long run. So, instead of going 'sugar-free', get 'sugar-smart'.
There are those like Whole Foods that add sweetness though natural means such as raisins, honey and jaggery. And then there are those which will end up feeding you plenty of sugar in disguise. Watch out for words like sucrose, lactose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, galactose, grape sugar, aspartame, mannitol and sorbitol (both sugar alcohols that contain a fair amount of carbohydrates and are harmful for diabetics, especially for people with Type 1 diabetes, if consumed in excess).
There are, of course, brands like Stute Diabetic Jam which will tell you upfront that the product contains sorbitol and also mention the safe quantity to consume. Excessive consumption of sugar alcohols can cause diarrhoea and bloating. Products from abroad usually have the ingredients listed out as mandated by laws there. However, in India, implementation of similar regulations is lax. Even so, read the label and the fine print carefully.
Of artificial sweeteners, aspartame in particular has been at the centre of several medical controversies. There have been reports that it causes nausea, headaches, allergic reactions, dizziness and even memory loss and seizures. But research has failed to prove this. The US Food and Drug Administration has said that an aspartame intake of 50 mg per kilogram of body weight is safe.
Even so, many health food companies are beginning to avoid aspartame. Kunal Pabrai, founder of Fresh & Naturelle which has a range of sugar-free ice creams, says: "We use fructo-oligosaccharide, which is a fourth generation sweetener, in our sugar-free ice creams." Fructo-oligosaccharides are sweeteners prepared from plant sources like asparagus or soybeans and are used as prebiotics that stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria in the digestive system.
Cocoberry, which has a range of cold desserts and frozen yoghurts, also offers zero-sugar variants. "The sugar substitute we use is sucralose, which does not enter the blood stream," says Rahul Deans, the CEO of Cocoberry. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is non-caloric. But while yogurt is a healthier option to ice-cream, Cocoberry, says Deans, would rather look at itself as a trendy option than health food.
Unlike ice-creams, which are often an occasional indulgence, diet colas are known to become a habit. Several diet colas use sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, both of which have been classified as mild irritants to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes by the UK Food Commission. Many of them also contain advanced glycation end products which are formed by a combination of carbohydrates, fat and proteins and are said to lead to age-related diseases.
"No matter how healthy a product claims itself to be, I would not experiment by binging on it," says Pabrai, summing up, "Even when it is diet food you are going for, it's best to consume it in moderate quantities."
READ BEFORE YOU EAT
Sugar can be hidden as
- Honey
- Grape sugar
- Jaggery
- Mannitol
- Sorghum syrup
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Barley malt
- Brown sugar
- Cane sugar
- Corn sweetener
- Corn or agave syrup
- Sucrose
- Lactose
- Fructose
- Glucose
- Dextrose
- Maltose
- Galactose