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PERSONAL HEALTH; Gaining Weight on Sugar-Free, Fat-Free Diets

Why with the abundance of artificially sweetened, low-fat and nonfat foods now widely available, do Americans continue to get fatter and fatter? And why, with the endless stream of popular diets and weight-loss plans, do Americans repeatedly fail at losing weight and keeping it off? If you know the answers to these questions, you have already taken the first step toward permanent weight control. If you don't know, I'll tell you.
What Americans Eat ,We only think we're eating carefully by choosing sugar-free or fat-free foods. Most fat-free foods have nearly as many calories as their full-fat counterparts. One-half cup of fat-free pudding, 140 calories; regular, 160. Five fat-free soda crackers, 50 calories; regular, 60. One ounce of fat-free pretzels, 110; regular, 110. Furthermore, most people fail to note the portion size that supplies the specified number of calories, or they think they can have double the amount they usually eat because the food is fat-free.

Calories always count, whether they come from fat, sugar, starch or protein. Read the nutrition information on the label of all packaged foods to know what you are eating and determine the appropriate portion. Despite the popularity of artificial sweeteners, Americans continue to increase their consumption of caloric sweeteners. Since 1970, annual per capita consumption of sugar and other caloric sweeteners has risen by nearly 30 pounds. Artificial sweeteners merely feed the desire for the real thing. While the percentage of calories from fat we consume per person has fallen, from about 42 percent to 34 percent, we now consume about 10 pounds of added fats and oils more than we did in 1970. Consumption of cheese is also way up, thanks to our passion for pizza, cheeseburgers, tacos and the like. The percentage of calories from fat has declined only because we are consuming more calories. Home cooking, where the cook knows exactly what is in each dish, has fallen off sharply. More than 40 percent of the American food dollar is now spent on foods eaten out. Restaurant portions are typically two or more times larger than they should be, and they are often loaded with hidden calories. When 203 dietitians were asked to estimate the calorie and fat content of five restaurant meals, they were often way off. They guessed that a hamburger and onion rings would provide 863 calories and 44 grams of fat when the meal contained 1,550 calories and 101 grams of fat. They thought a tuna salad sandwich had 374 calories and 18 grams of fat when the displayed sandwich actually contained 720 calories and 43 grams of fat. Consumption of snack foods continues to rise, with new high-calorie snacks luring consumers away from more nutritious and lower calorie alternatives like fruit or yogurt. One Mrs. Field's oatmeal raisin walnut cookie has 240 calories; one Au Bon Pain blueberry muffin, 430 calories; one Starbucks cinnamon scone, 530 calories.
What Should We Eat? You know the answer: lots of fruits and vegetables and grain-based foods rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals and low in calories, fleshed out with modest amounts of animal protein -- four-ounce portions of well-trimmed meat, skinless poultry or fish -- and low-fat and nonfat dairy foods. Not only would such a diet reduce caloric intake, it would also significantly reduce the risk of developing a long list of chronic, often fatal diseases, including heart disease and many cancers.