Navratri 2021: Do You Really Lose Weight By Eating Fat-Free And Sugar-Free Things? What To Include In A Diet With Fasting

Ms. Shivani Bavalekar, Sr. Executive Nutritionist, Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Navi Mumbai (Vashi)

Sugar-free foods and food products:

When we say sugar-free ,its means excluding sugar from the diet which technically is not possible hence , what people do they substitute sugar with artificial sugar or saccharine , but  it would be to keep in mind that overeating sugar-free products is almost equivalent to eating sugar filled products and not entirely healthier. Many sugar – free products contain artificial sugar along with hidden sugar, which give you same calorie as present in normal sugar. Also sometimes the products have other additives added to enhance flavors.

Pros: Weight Loss : Cutting down sugar is nothing but cutting down empty calories. Hence doing this will help you in weight loss but you also have to observe on portion sizes of overall meals and foods that you are consuming.

Cons :  Difficult to achieve weight loss.

At one point we crave for sugars and then there might be chances you end up eating lot of chocolates or sugary things and also at times it will be difficult for you to identify the difference between added sugar and artificial sugar, as many products have hidden sugar with different names.

Fat free Products or Diet foods: There are many fat free products available in the market , but these types of products are loaded with starches, extra sodium and added sugar , which will not help you to lose weight. When it comes to health, it is more important to focus on type of fat and quantity of fat you are consuming.

Example: In-case  you are consuming baked potato chips whole big packet, yes it sounds healthy as it is baked and not deep fried , but still  this might increase your weight as these products are added  with sugar, starches and more salt to replace the missing flavors of fats.

Pros: Weight loss

If you make an effort to reduce fat intake, you might lose weight, but this shall include restricting carbohydrate too. However, the solution to keeping this weight off is to limit the consumption of visible fat in your diet. Try adding healthy fats as walnut, flaxseed, and safflower seeds instead.

Cons: Fat free diets mostly eliminate fats drastically and this interferes with absorption of fat soluble vitamins such as A, D,E , K  in the body  and might affect  our bone health , eyes and skin health.

Gestational Diabetes Mellitus and fasting

Women with pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, while fasting the sugar might fluctuate a lot; either there will be a low blood sugar level due to inadequate intake and long empty gaps or once you consume a heavy meal in the night after whole day of fasting, then the blood sugar level will spike up suddenly and might give trouble to the mother and the baby and it is not considered safe.

Breastfeeding and fasting:

Mother’s milk is very important for the new born baby as it has essential nutrients in it which helps to protect the baby from infection and helps in growth and immunity. So, women who are breastfeeding are not expected to fast, as the baby is completely dependent on mother’s milk and if they choose to go ahead with fasting they must know that there will be lack of nutrient supply to baby, which might lead to an issue for baby in gaining weight and hampering proper growth.

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