Eating light: what does it really mean?
Light eating is often confused with healthy eating: but are they the same thing ? Could there be any contraindications to eating only and always skimmed products, with fewer calories, dietetic?
First of all, let’s try to understand what it means to eat light and if there are any contraindications for health.
EAT LIGHT IN THE KITCHEN (OR SWAPS)
If eating light means using “swaps” that is replacing some ingredients with lighter but natural ones, I see nothing wrong with that. This for example means using apple puree to reduce the butter in desserts; make potato croquettes in the oven instead of frying them; use ricotta diluted in skimmed milk instead of cooking cream.
Or, when we are out, eat a lemon sorbet rather than a cream ice cream; eat a marinara pizza (ie without mozzarella) as opposed to a four-cheese pizza.
This way of eating light has no contraindications, except maybe a couple:
- there is the risk of severely limiting oneself in food choice, especially when the substitutions or swaps are between low-calorie foods but also poorer in nutrients versus denser but also more nutritious foods.
For example: I can substitute egg white for a lower fat and more protein food. But I shouldn’t be depriving myself of eggs all the time. Because the yolk contains folic acid, vitamin E, vitamin A. - So eating light is good if we intend to cook light, for example for elaborate dishes: a light tiramisu with Greek yogurt instead of mascarpone. But it is not good when it comes at the expense of precious foods for our well-being. Egg whites instead of eggs; shirataki instead of pasta and grain sources.
- The other possible problem is that any food deprivation is a self-imposed choice (unless the doctor orders it) therefore a stress. I think that moderation is one of the most powerful weapons against being overweight: I have learned it the hard way, and if there is one thing that I have eliminated from my life it has been the binge. If you learn to eat little of everything without depriving yourself of anything you will never feel unsatisfied at the table.
For this reason it is always better to choose balanced diets to lose weight.
EAT LIGHT WITH DIET FOODS
When eating light means being consumers of light products, the situation changes, and a great deal, with repercussions on health that can also be serious.
Especially if we rely on industrial products: the so-called light products that we find in the supermarket are those with thirty percent fewer calories than their traditional alternative.
But you have to look carefully at the list of ingredients: thickeners, preservatives, flavor enhancers, are present much more in light products than in traditional ones.
Some of them can damage the intestinal villi, in others the use of sweeteners that are cloying and not often tolerated in the intestine can give rise to marked sensitivity, with colic and spasms, fermentation. A lean intestine is not a suffering intestine.
We cannot think of swallowing foods with ingredients that we don’t even know what they mean and then complain of swelling, regularity, impurities of the skin, difficulty in digesting.
Furthermore, when faced with the light product , the impulse is to eat more than we would: with the result that our caloric intake may remain the same, we have ingested more stuff, of course, but not with the same flavor, and under the stress of having to eat lightly to lose weight.
In short, you eat more but with the same results and often with less gratification for the palate.
And what about certain things that are found on the net, which have nothing light?
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