Being healthy is what every person wants in their life. Health is the secret to your wealth. And the best way of having good health is by having healthy food. Consuming healthy food helps you to make yourself fight various diseases. While eating it is extremely important, many people consider diet food as a replacement for natural food. Diet food has been in great demand, especially when it comes to body transformation to maintain weight. But is it worth replacing healthy and natural food with diet food? Is diet food good for our health?
We will discover the answers to the above questions as we move further in the blog. But first, let us see what diet food is.
What is diet food?
Diet food is any food or drink that changes the body type. It is the food that helps to reduce the calories, fats, and sugar intake. You must have listened to the terms like low-fat milk, zero calories, sugar-free sweets, etc. All these items are part of diet food.
Diet food is the replacement of food with high calories or sugar levels. For example, let us talk about one of the ordinary diet food – sugar-free sweets. We all know that all sweets contain sugar that gives the flavor of sweetness to it. Then how can it be sugar-free? Well, the answer to it is by replacing sugar with sugar substitutes. There are Meal Replacement Shakes that help people lose weight.
Is Diet Food Healthy For Us?
Consuming diet food can be a healthy way to eliminate an extra level of sugar, fats, carbohydrates, etc. We can further classify diet food into two more categories –
- Natural Food
- Food Replacement Product
Natural Food may consist of foods like corn, brown rice, jaggery, etc that are good for health. Whereas, Food Replacement Products are those which are taken instead of natural food. Weight loss shakes are the best example of diet food replacements. But is it good for our body?
Consuming natural Diet food like corn, broccoli, homemade soups, using brown sugar instead of white sugar is healthy. No processing is involved in the production of it. But when we talk about food replacements, there are many controversies in using them. So let us see various types of diet food replacements and find out if they are healthy for us or not.
Sugar-Free Sweets
Sugar-free Sweets or candies are those which do not include sugar but sugar substitutes. High intake of sugar results in severe health problems like diabetes. People who are diabetic patients switch over to sugar-free sweets. Two types of sweeteners most commonly used to make sugar-free sweets are Sugar Alcohol and Artificial Sweeteners.
Sugar alcohols are those sweeteners that are low in calories. They have a less impact on blood sugar than other carbohydrates, making them potential weight-loss assistance. High intake of sugar alcohol, when passed unabsorbed through the intestine, cause various problems like gas, bloating, or diarrhoea.
Artificial sweeteners are calorie-free sweeteners with a sweetening ability. It is typically at least 100 times that of sugar. Many of them are not completely safe. There are chances of low risk associated with it.
There is another sugar substitute which is neither Sugar Alcohol nor Artificial Sweetener, known as Stevia. Stevia is a highly purified sugar substitute obtained from the stevia plant. It has a strong sweetening effect and is safe until consumed in its recommended amounts.
Meal Replacement Shakes
Meal Replacement Shakes have gained popularity in recent years. These shakes are the best alternative for your entire meal. They can be a healthy option if you want to cut back on calories. They are often high in nutrients but low in calories compared to a meal.
Meal replacement shakes are a good source of protein. They can fill you up without adding unnecessary calories to your diet. Also, it helps you lose weight without losing muscle mass. You must not rely on it for every meal in the long run.
Meal replacements contain significant amounts of artificial flavors. Many unneeded components are present to extend the life of meal replacements that aren’t good for your diet. You may also find synthetic minerals in it. Therefore, it is essential to check the nutritional value and ingredients before purchasing the shake.
Before buying the meal replacement, then you should first think of allergens that you may have. You may be allergic to dairy products. In such situations, it is vital to read labels before buying them. Whey protein is derived from cow’s milk, so if you are allergic to dairy products, then you should look for a plant-based protein.
Diet Soda
Diet sodas are popular drinks around the world, particularly among those who desire to cut back on sugar or calories. One of the most common examples of it is diet coke.
Research on Diet Soda has yielded a lot of contradictory results. Observational studies associate diet soda with health problems like type two diabetes and high blood pressure. Diet drink is linked to the development of kidney disease. A probable cause of it could be the rise of acid load on the kidneys due to its large phosphorus level.
The majority of the research done is observational. It means that these results depend on the observed trends. There is a lack of knowledge on whether diet soda intake is the cause or not.
Most of the observational studies show the side effects of the intake of diet coke. If you want to replace your regular soda with diet soda, try switching to some other alternatives.
Conclusion
Everyone’s wish is to stay healthy in their lives. Diet food is any food or drink, consumed to alter one’s body type. It is the food that assists in the reduction of calories, fats, and sugar consumption. Diet food can further be of two types – natural food and food replacement products. Natural diet food which includes brown rice, corns, broccoli, nuts, etc is safer than food replacements. Food replacements are, however, processed supplements, that may involve harmful substances. There is no harm in consuming diet food replacements in low quantity. But consuming it for the long term may lead to severe health problems. Hence, one should not rely on it for a very long period.
