I was shopping for some post op supplies the other day and ran into a problem. What is more important when picking out soups, puddings and such, that they are fat free or sugar free?

For me it was looking at the Nutrition Guild. I was taught by my Nutritionist & Dr to keep with in a certain amount of calories AND to be sure I get enough protein in per day.

They gave me a way to know the amount of grams of protein I needed per day....

Take my current weight, multiply it by .03 and that will give me my Grams Per Day Goal.

I was told to adjust this number every 10 lbs I lose.

Hopefully this helps.

I would like to know too for dessert purposes like puddings and such or treats on occassion.

Both have to be controlled. Too much of either will gain weight. Since I don't eat to much sugar anything, I would look for fat free most of all. Non-fat then skim milk versus 1% or 2% milk products.

Do not be fooled by "Sugar Free", there is still sugar alcohol in the products as well as sucralose.

Attached is a link to help you with the different between fat free and sugar free products.

http://www.momswhothink.com/diet-and-nutrition/sugar-free-or-fat-free-to-lose-weight.html

Either way I have found taking in natural sugar and fats will help curb your cravings and assist you in staying full longer. Try Salmon for fats or organic raw butter. How about cooking with coconut oil. It's wonderful. As far as sugar I love pineapple. Sweet and satisfying. Hope the article helps.

Most "Fat Free" products jack up the calorie content via adding other products (like sugar), most "no sugar added" products do the same thing by using other types of sugar. Look at the nutritional labels to figure out what you are actually getting and go from there.

fat free (still has calories) and that can make some people think they can eat more as its got no fat..but 3500 cals is a pound whether we drink it or eat it...as far as SF, def read labels. anything ending in ose, use is sugar..

That's a loaded question and there's a lot of good advice here.

I look at the overall nutritional value. I don't do low carb so that's not an issue for me. However, I do keep my overall fat intake to less than 25% of my daily total. I also restrict my calories to 1000-1200 a day. So if I look at a label and it's sugar free but has 30% fat, I won't eat it. Likewise if I look at a label and it's fat free but a huge number of calories, I won't eat it.

I honestly don't think you can say sugar free or fat free is better, I think it's more a matter of overall nutritional value for each specific food.

This all makes sense I guess I will be reading labels more closely. Is it jan 22 yet

If you look at fat free its loaded with sugar to make it taste better. I dont do fat free anything. Sucralose is one of the better sweeteners then aspartame. My doctor said no pink or blue sweeteners so I use splenda or stevia. Sweeteners will make you crave sugar.

I watched a program the other day about 'fat free'.......and how as a society we instantly look at calories and fat when we look at labels. However for alot of people sodium is a big problem as well. They went on to say that when you take the fat out of a food and make it fat free or low fat, you are also taking out flavor, fat (and sugar) = flavor, so to compensate that, they add salt (and sugar), because salt increases flavor as well. I compared a box of special k breakfast cereal to fruit loops, calories and fat almost the same but suprisingly special k has more sodium.(won't even talk about the sugar) For things that are so close in calories and fat, it really doesn't hurt to get the full on product with less soduim as opposed to 'fat free' - (i am thinking things like sour cream where I would just use 1-2 tablespoons)........

I really use to have to try to eat all sugar free things...

Now...it just doesnt appel to me...I LOVE all natural foods...

If I happen to have something with sugar...I dont like it....

So this is a plus !!!

I try to use both but if there is a one or the other choice I go with sugar free. Its different than no sugar added... sugar free is geared tro a diabetic diet which my Dr says is the way to go... For example fat free pudding has a ton of sugar in in where as sugar free pudding has not alot of fat. If that makes sense.

What floridays and dee257 said. Watch either. If I was picking, I would do sugar free using stevia!

I agree... sugar free. Use stevia sweeteners if at all possible. They are becoming more available. There has been research that says the the other sweeteners trigger the same "blood sugar" reaction as natural sugar, while stevia does not and my be better for people with diabetes.

One other thought, many of the sugar alcohols... that in in "ose" can cause diarrhea in some people if they eat it in large quantities.