Diet or light? Which is the better option?

The term diet or light is very much used in food labels, but it can confuse consumers at the purchase moment.

Diet products are those that do not have one or more ingredients in their composition, such as:
 

Absence of sugar (sucrose, honey, brown sugar, glucose)

Absence of salt

Absence of fat

LEARN HOW TO READ FOOD LABELS

At the purchase moment, check first the product label to which it was developed. Therefore, remember:
 

Read the labels attentively;

Do not trust only in the denominations diet or light present in the label;

Observe attentively the nutritional composition of the product, identifying the amount of each nutrient (fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and mineral salt);

Calculate know how much you are ingesting of each food, because many times the portion in the label is informed in 100gr of food;

BE CAREFUL NOT TO MAKE A MISTAKE IN YOUR CHOICE!

Many people, because they are not very clear about the difference between diet and light products end up consuming these products too much and ingest a greater value of caloric amounts than necessary. For example, if you replace a slice of cake by 2 slices of diet cake, you may be ingesting a greater amount of these calories.

LIGHT AND DIET PRODUCTS MAY BE TOGETHER?

Besides being different, light and diet products may be present in the same food.

See two examples:
 

Skim yogurt is light, that is, it presents a low rate of total lipids (fat), and at the same time diet (without sugar).

Diet or Light sodas can be ingested by people who need to lose weight, because they do not contain sugar in their formulation, and the amount of calories is much lower in comparison with traditional sodas.

HINTS
 

Light Ice cream and mayonnaise are naturally caloric because they contain a high rate of fat. The traditional mayonnaise contains approximately 660 calories per each 100gr. Light mayonnaise contains approximately 330 calories per each 100gr. Even with a reduction of 50% of calories, it is still a considerably high caloric rate for one who wishes to lose weight. Therefore, in this case, it is better to replace light mayonnaise by skim yogurt dressing.

Sweeteners are not all the same in their composition. Pay attention to the label to know which one is being used in the diet food composition, such as aspartame or sorbitol, they are sweeteners that contain a lower caloric rate. However, cyclamate, saccharin and stevia do not contain calories.

National products with the diet indication in the labels can be designated by the nomination: “does not contain”, “free”, “zero”, “without”, “free of a nutrient”.

Products with the light indication in the labels are described in the packaging: “low”, or “light”, “reduced rate”, “less rate”.