Eating a low fat diet can help you lose weight – but that’s just half the story. Most people trying to lower their fat intake go to the store looking for products whose labels show low fat or no fat. Pasta, for example reads “0 fat grams”. There are fat free chips, fat free cookies, fat free ice cream, and the list goes on and on. Let’s face it – sales of no fat foods have “skyrocketed” over the last 20 years and so has the number of Americans who are overweight.

The problem is that most fat free, or low fat foods are very high in carbohydrates and also very low in fiber. Fiber really means fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and berries. The acid in your stomach will not dissolve these natural fibers, so eating them fills you up faster and keeps you full longer. But eating low fat foods like, cakes, cookies, and chips, that are also low in fiber means you have to eat more to feel full. As you eat these foods the acid in your stomach begins to dissolve the foods and digest them very quickly – it’s like trying to fill up a sink that has no stopper. Eventually you can get the sink to fill up – but it takes a lot more water to do it. The result is that you eat more, you take in more calories than you need, and your body stores the extra carbohydrates and calories as fat.

Keep reading labels, but choose foods that have more fiber grams than fat grams. You will quickly discover many delicious foods that are far healthier than any of the low fat or no fat foods – and you’ll see your body respond the way you want it to.