The Light on Lite!

The Light on Lite

Coming off my skinny post I got to thinking about some of the mixed messages around health. So, I decided to talk about Lite foods.

This is another term that has some pretty good marketing messaging! When you see this term do you automatically think it must be better as it is Liter?

My questions is always, Lite in what? Lite in calories? Sodium? Fat? Or some other ingredient? Or just lighter in flavour?

Lite and Light are often used inter changeably.

The term lite, means containing less of an ingredient. But it doesn’t matter what ingredient just less of. It is not a regulated term so therefore any marketing can use it. In fact, you see it outside the food world like in paid plans, like shopify, it has a lite plan.

When talking about light/lite oils it can just mean lighter in colour or lighter in flavour, it doesn't necessarily mean it is better for you.

In fact, lite foods often contain more sugar than the original form. Refer to the skinny milk discussion and you will see how this works. Less fat often means a higher sugar concentration. This is especially the case when it comes to dairy products.

Light Soy Sauce is just lighter in colour and a bit less sodium, whereas the Dark Soy is darker in colour and fuller in flavour, it also colours your noodles compared to the lighter soy sauce. So, this doesn’t have anything to do with health but more about the taste.

There is a whole food industry working on the assumption that the term Lite (and another word rhyming with peasy) means that the food is healthy for you. But when you look at the level of additives and processed products in the food, it really isn’t.

There is the argument that these packaged foods are better than eating fast foods or foods high in trans fats, and maybe this is true. But they are not for long term consumption. Especially as these are marketed to aged care as a solution to not cooking. Please don’t, try your local council and check out meals on wheels, these are freshly cooked and do not carry all the additives (local council dependant and they have improved since their inception).

Sorry I digress!

For me I when I see the term Lite I automatically think light/lite on nutrition!!! I give the lite products a big sidestep.

Healthy fats are not evil! And they are not the reason you are gaining weight (if you are using lite products for this reason). Healthy fats like avocado, nuts and seeds, fatty fish, olive oil, coconut oil and even Ghee are all fully of nutrients essential for good health. And they can help reduce weight.

When you go for the lite/skinny/non fat products you are more likely to have a higher sugar content which adds to the weight not reducing it.

So next time you see the term lite, investigate further to see what it is lite in!