Half Together Now; or, Inadvertent Fecklessness in the Dietary Realm

One particularly fun aspect of using a good diet tracker is the ability to compare food values across different foods or food types.

For instance, my interest in a dietary change (words my doctor told me) is to watch sodium levels and lose weight.  Calorie-watching is important but secondary to me.  I’d rather watch my total portions and balance of nutritional elements, and stay within healthy, pre-determined limits.  So “fat-free” foods are not by themselves a necessity. I’d rather use moderate amounts of unsaturated fats and oils and avoid saturated ones, not try to cut fats out altogether.

Having said that, why am I tracking with a (very fine indeed) software tracker that counts calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, sodium, and fiber?

Because a.) foods nowadays are labeled with nutrition labels, and large databases exist based on those nutritional elements; foods are not often labeled in terms of exchanges or food-type portions; and b) I’d like to track what I eat both ways, because of tracking sodium in particular and a desire to see the nutritional makeup of what I’m eating and c.) this is a fine, flexible tracker that does this type of nutrient-counting very well in an easy-to-use entry and simple-to-read report structure I like.  (I’m using Perfect Diet Tracker available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux, also available through the Mac App store, where I bought mine.  I recommend it highly.)  I’m tracking exchanges separately.

And now, back to our exciting story of dietary adventure: each morning I enjoy a small pot of coffee, lightened with a little half-and-half.  In a recent shopping trip I saw some fat-free half and half and wondered what could possibly be of interest in such a product.  The whole essence and enjoyability of cream — the entire point of it, as it seems to me — is the butterfat.  My attitude towards foods has always been to fish or cut bait: I don’t normally use ‘substitutes’ or ‘concocted’ foods.  Use it and own it, by counting the calories, fats, etc. as part of the dietary allowance for the day; or give it up altogether.

But, in a fit of unthinking excess dietary zeal that day I said, “Aaaah, I’ll try this maybe I can use the calories or fats elsewhere.”  I should have paid more attention, perhaps, to the clue offered by the crowd of ‘fat free’ containers remaining in the half-and-half area of the dairy case, and the dearth of regular ones.

I got it home, and put some in the coffee the next morning.  Not as good as the real stuff, but acceptable, sort of. Definitely sweeter, and that’s not good (I’m not fond of sweets). An acquired taste? Maybe. H’mmm.

Then I did a side-by-side comparison of the ingredients in standard half and half and an equal serving size of the fat-free type, using my computer-based diet tracker.

In this comparison, R = regular half and half and FF = fat free half and half; in each case, a leading national brand is represented:

Calories: R 40,  FF 20

Carbohydrates: R 1g,  FF 3 g

Proteins: R 1 g,  FF 1g

Fats: R 3g, FF 0 g

Sodium: R 10 mg, FF 30 mg

Clearly, what you lose on the roundabouts you make up on the swings.  While yes, with the fat-free type, you’ve lost half the calories (20) and all the fat (3 g.), you’ve also gained three times the sodium — not good in my case — and carbohydrates. In addition, you’ve lost most of the flavor and texture, and gained a certain sweet flavor that I don’t care for (skim milk and corn syrup are the first two ingredients listed).

I like a small amount of half and half in my coffee, used moderately it fits within my diet, and I am going to buy some of the real stuff for that purpose when I go shopping later today.

Other people may have different preferences and needs and I wish them only good luck and happiness.

But as for me, a lesson learned: give me the real deal, or else forget it entirely.