ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE FAQ Last updated: 5/27/95 Written by: Michelle Dick Archived at: ftp://ftp.fatfree.com/FAQ/alt-food-fat-free-faq This is a summary of information about the alt.food.fat-free newsgroup, very low fat diets, fat in foods, and nutritional labeling. Send any comments, suggestions, or corrections to me, Michelle Dick, at artemis@fatfree.com. Throughout this document you will see reference to various URLs. These are pointers to internet resources available through ftp, gopher, and web-browsers. Please ask at your computer site for more information on how to use these pointers (I'm sorry, but I can't help you). Additions or substantive changes since the last update marked with * in the contents listing. CONTENTS 1. ORIGIN OF ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE 2. TOPIC OF ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE 3. ABBREVIATIONS 4. DIET DEFINITIONS 5. FINDING THE FAT 5.1. Determining %CFF, percentage of calories from fat 5.2. % Fat-free on a food label 5.3. Converting from % fat by weight to %CFF 5.4 "Fat Free" claims on labels 5.5. Hidden fat 5.6. Finding the fat content of non-labeled foods 5.7. Fat content of oils 5.8. Fat content of nuts 5.9. Other high fat vegetable foods 5.10. TVP 5.11 Seitan 6. FAT IN THE DIET 6.1. Optimal fat content 6.2. Keeping track of fat in the diet 6.3. Dietary need for fat 6.4. How much fat is needed 6.5. Two types of EFAs and their dietary sources. 6.6. RDA for EFAs 6.7. Best vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids 6.8. Omega-3 fatty acid content of fish and flax oils 7. COOKING WITHOUT FAT 7.1. Alternatives to sauteing or stir-frying with oil 7.2. Replacing fat in baked goods. 8 NUTRITIONAL LABELING IN THE US 8.1 NLEA 8.2 Definition of terms used in food labeling 8.3 Rounding off nutrient values 8.4 Mono and diglycerides 9. OTHER RESOURCES 9.1. VLF cookbooks 9.2. Background books on vlf diets 9.3. Related email mailing lists 9.4. Ftp recipe archives 9.5. Nutrition sites on the internet 10. THANKS! 1. ORIGIN OF ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE Early in 1993, I created the FATFREE Vegetarian Mailing List for discussion of very low fat vegetarianism. The list's focus was and is vegetarian diets with approximately 5-15%CFF, not low fat diets of 15-30%CFF. The list became very popular very quickly and many on the list wanted a usenet forum to discuss the topic as well as space to discuss non-vegetarian vlf foods. Thus, a member of the FATFREE Mailing List created alt.food.fat-free. The charter message indicated that the group was for discussion of diets similar to the FATFREE Mailing List without a restrition to vegetarian foods. Because of the similarity of the topic and because the creator also wanted to stress that the group was for discussion of *very* low fat diets, the name "fat-free" was carried over (despite the fact that this a misnomer as there are no truly fat free nutritious foods or diets). 2. TOPIC OF ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE The topic of this newsgroup is foods and cooking relevant to very lowfat (appx 15%CFF and under) diets. The list is NOT restricted to vegetarian foods. Long-time readers and other knowledgable folks are very much aware that there are no truly fatless foods (excepting perhaps, water and sugar). All foods contain some fat (see below for more info). Individual ingredients and recipes are not required to be below some magic level of fat content; the only expectation is that discussion should concentrate on those foods and dishes that fit easily into very low fat diets. 3. ABBREVIATIONS CFF = Calories From Fat LF = Low Fat VLF = Very Low Fat HFS = Health Food Store SAD = Standard American Diet SWD = Standard Western Diet TVP = Texturized Vegetable Protein HVP = Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein 4. DIET DEFINITIONS VLF diet: usually refers to a diet of 15%CFF or less and often 10%CFF or less. Pritikin diet: diet advocated by Nathan Pritikin starting in the 70's. Less than 10%CFF, non-vegetarian, sugar-restricted. Ornish diet: diet promoted by Dean Ornish. Ovo-lacto vegetarian, 10%CFF or less. McDougall diet: diet promoted by John McDougall. Vegan diet, usually containing 10%CFF or less. Vegetarian diet: diet that excludes all animal flesh, all chicken, all fish and seafood. May or may not include eggs, milk products, and honey. Not necessarily low in fat. Ovo-Lacto vegetarian diet: vegetarian diet including eggs (ovo) and dairy (lacto). One sometimes also hears the terms ovo-vegetarian and lacto-vegetarian. Vegan diet: vegetarian diet that also excludes all egg and milk products and usually excludes honey. Not necessarily low in fat. Entenman's diet: derisive term for a diet consisting of large amounts of "fat free" sugar foods such as Entenman's fatfree baked goods. 5. FINDING THE FAT 5.1. Determining %CFF, percentage of calories from fat One useful measure of fat is the percentage of calories as fat. To compute this percentage you need to know both the total calories and grams of fat: grams of fat X 9 %CFF = ---------------- X 100 total calories Example: A jar of Campbell's Healthy Request (tm) Cream of Mushroom Soup is labeled as having (per serving) 2g fat and 60 calories. Thus, the % calories from fat is 2 * 9 18 ----- * 100 = ---- * 100 = .30 * 100 = 30% calories from fat 60 60 5.2. % Fat-free on a food label When % fat is listed on a food label, this is NOT %CFF as calculated above. Food labels use fat percentage by weight not calories. For instance, 1% milk is milk with 1% fat by weight. It has 23%CFF. In the previous Campbell's Soup example, the soup is labeled as "99% Fat Free! (1% fat as served)". But from our prior calculations, we showed it has 30%CFF. 5.3. Converting from % fat by weight to %CFF There is no simple way to convert from a weight percentage to a calorie percentage. The reason is that the conversion will depend on how much water, fiber, and other non-caloric ingredients are in the item. For instance, you could add a drop of oil to a glass of water. By weight, it would have less than 1% fat, yet 100% of the calories would be from fat. One can calculate a lower bound on the %CFF, however. If a product has X% fat by weight, it must be at least: 900X %CFF = ------ 400 + 5X Keep in mind this is just a lower bound, the true %CFF will probably be much higher. It is better to use the fat formula from section 4.1 if at all possible. 5.4 "Fat Free" claims on labels In the U.S, food can be labeled "fat free" and listed as having 0 grams of fat if the actual fat content is less than 0.5 grams. This is how foods can have oil or high-fat ingredients listed in their ingredients yet claim to have only 0 grams of fat. See below for more information on the labeling law in the US. 5.5. Hidden fat The fat we are most familiar with is the triglyceride. All oils are triglycerides. However, there are also other forms of fat that you will see in ingredient lists. They are: lecithin, monoglycerides, and diglycerides. These are fats just like triglycerides and also have 9 calories per gram. Mono and diglycerides are treated by the body in the same way as regular oil (triglycerides). Lecithin metabolism is somewhat different. 5.6. Finding the fat content of non-labeled foods There are many "fat count" books on the market. These books give nutritional info for a variety of fresh and packaged foods. Buy one. While you can ask on this group about the fat content of various foods, it is considered polite to first attempt to look up the info yourself. One of the more complete fat count books is "The Corinne T Netzer Encyclopedia of Food Values". 5.7. Fat content of oils All oils are 100% fat. This includes olive oil, sesame oil, chili oil, fish oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, canola oil, safflower oil, and every other oil. Oils (and fats) have 9 calories per gram. Of course, oils vary widely in the proportion of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fat they contain. 5.8. Fat content of nuts Sad to say, but nuts are very high in fat. Most nuts get between 60 and 95%CFF. The ONLY exceptions are gingko nuts (13%CFF) and chestnuts (8%CFF). 5.9. Other high fat vegetable foods Other high-fat vegetable foods include olives at 96%CFF, avocados at 86%CFF, seeds (includes tahini) at 60 to 75%CFF, coconut at 61%CFF, coconut milk at 93%CFF and most tofu at 50%CFF. There are some brands of tofu that have as little as 15%CFF or 1% fat by weight (in Canada, look for President's Choice Tofu (15%CFF) and in the US look for Mori Nu Lite Tofu (1% fat by weight)). 5.10. TVP TVP stands for Texturized Vegetable Protein. It is made from defatted soy flour and is very low in fat (3%CFF). It is sold in flakes, granules, and chunks and can be used as a replacement for ground beef. Note that TVP is not the same thing as HVP, hydrolyzed vegetable protein. HVP is a food additive that often contains significant amounts of MSG, monosodium glutamate. TVP does not contain MSG. Although TVP itself is extremely low in fat, sometimes commerical products made from TVP or TVP mixes contain significant amounts of added fat. As always, read the label. TYPICAL NUTRITIONAL INFO FOR 1/4 CUP DRY TVP GRANULES (21g) Calories: 59 Protein: 11g Carbohydrates: 7g Fat: 0.2g CFF: 3% 5.11. Seitan Seitan is a product made from the gluten in wheat. You can buy pre-made seitan, box mixes, or make it by hand from gluten flour or even wheat flour. It is almost all protein with essentially no fat. 6. FAT IN THE DIET 6.1. Optimal fat content There is no ideal level of dietary fat that applies to everyone. Current US recommendations are to eat no more than 30%CFF. Some health professionals recommend 25, 20, 15, or 10%CFF or less. Nathan Pritikin, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. John McDougall are three proponents of diets with less than 10%CFF. The primary focus of this group (as stipulated in the creation message) is vlf diets in the 10%CFF range. While diets this low in fat are not optimal for everyone, this newsgroup is geared to those who have determined that such diets are optimal for themselves. 6.2. Keeping track of fat in the diet There are several methods of tracking or controlling fat in the diet. Some folks set a %CFF goal for their diet and a %CFF goal for each food/dish/meal. Others like to set a fat gram limit for each day/week and keep a running total. Another popular method is to not consume any added fat or high fat foods at all, save for a few rare treats. Nutrition software that tracks dietary nutrients can also be used. There is no one best way for everyone. Those who are trying to control their overall calorie intake in addition to fat often find that keeping track of fat grams works best. Others find it too cumbersome to keep a fat count and feel it is easier to eat only those foods that have less than a specific %CFF. Eating foods with no added fat and no high fat foods involves no nutritional calculation at all. 6.3. Dietary need for fat It is absolutely true that we need fat in our diet to function properly. It would be unhealthy to eliminate all fat. However, in a non-junk-food diet composed of a variety of foods it is impossible to eliminate all fat. All foods have fat. A diet consisting only of beans, fruits, vegetables, and grains (and *zero* added oils or high-fat ingredients) will naturally obtain about 6-10%CFF. Since few people are this strict 100% of the time, most of those who attempt vlf diets get 10-20%CFF. We get people on the group from time to time who claim to eat no fat or extremely little (say less than 10 grams per day). Unless one is eating mostly fatfree junk food or extremely few calories (less than 1200 cal/day) this is highly unlikely. Keep in mind foods labeled "fat free" can contain up to 0.5 grams of fat per serving and that all foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, etc) contain some fat, even skim milk! 6.4. How much fat is needed We need fat for two main reasons: to help absorb fat soluble vitamins (such as vitamin A) and to supply two types of essential fatty acids (EFAs) that our bodies need but cannot produce. A diet with at least 10 grams of fat per day will result in normal vitamin absorption (some recommend at least 5 grams per meal, or 15 grams per day). Experts disagree on how much EFA we need, but it is generally a very small amount (most of the doctors involved in vlf dietary regimens feel that a varied plant food diet with at least 4-6%CFF will satisfy EFA needs and that no effort is needed to insure adequate intake of these nutrients). 6.5. Two types of EFAs and their dietary sources. Our bodies need a source of both n-6 fatty acids and n-3 fatty acids (also called "omega-3" fatty acids). n-6 acids can be found in some meats (arachidonic acid), but are particularly plentiful in most vegetables (linoleic acid). n-3 acids are plentiful in fish (eicosapentaenoic acid and decosahexaenoic acid) and in some plant foods such as flaxseeds, walnuts, wheat, soybeans, oats, corn, leafy greens and other seeds and nuts (linolenic acid). Actually, most plant foods contain omega-3 in amounts ranging from 1 to 50% of total fat. 6.7 RDA for EFAs No Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for either essential fatty acid have been established, primarily because essential fatty acid deficiency has been observed exlcusively in patients with medical problems affecting fat intake or absorption. However, the human requirement for linoleic acid has been estimated to be approximately 1 to 2% of the total energy intake (2.7% for infants). This level is generally more than met in varied diets since fats from vegetables are particularly rich sources of linoleic acid. It has been proposed that omega-3 fatty acids should be equal to 10 to 25% of the linoleic acid intake (or 0.1 to 0.5% of total energy intake) particularly during pregnancy, lactation, and infancy. -- Food and Nutrition Board 1989 6.7. Best vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids As long as you eat a varied non-junkfood diet (whether non-vegetarian, vegetarian, or vegan), you will most likely get all the EFAs you need. But, if (for whatever reason) you would like to consume more, the number one best vegetarian source of both EFAs is flax seeds. However, whole flax seeds are not usually digested well by the body and linolenic acid is very unstable and goes rancid quickly. You should either use cold-pressed flax seed oil that is no more than 3 months old, or freshly ground flax seeds. In either case, eat them raw. Some like to add ground flax seed to their breakfast cereal or to make a vinaigrette with flax oil and add it to salad. 6.8 Omega-3 fatty acid content of fish and flax oils Grams of omega-3 fatty acid in 100 grams of oil ----------------------------------------------- Cod liver oil 19.2 Herring oil 14.0 Menhaden oil 21.7 MaxEPA, concentrated fish oil 29.4 Salmon oil 20.1 Flax seed oil 53.3 Source: USDA: HNIS/PT-103 1988 7. COOKING WITHOUT FAT 7.1. Alternatives to sauteing or stir-frying with oil The most common technique is to braise the food in a water-based liquid, such as wine, broth (vegetable or a defatted meat stock), flavored vinegar, or a soy sauce mixture. Balsamic vinegar is a popular braising liquid. Note that food often tastes more bland when cooking without fat and the quantity of spices should usually be increased. 7.2. Replacing fat in baked goods. The most common technique is to use fruit purees (apple sauce, apple butter, mashed bananas, pureed prunes (some like to use baby food prunes), etc) or nonfat dairy products (fatfree sour cream, fatfree cream cheese, etc) in place of the fat in the recipe. Substitution is typically 1 for 1 (I.e. 1 cup applesauce for each cup oil). Many find that a better product is obtained by diluting the substitute with water rather than using it full strength. When using fruit purees you will also generally need to decrease the sugar. Note that the fatfree product will be noticeably different than the fatted version. 8 NUTRITIONAL LABELING IN THE US 8.1 NLEA On May 8th, 1993 the Nutritional Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) of 1990 went into effect in the U.S.A. It defined terms such as "low fat" and "high fiber" for the purposes of food labeling, broadened the classes of foods requiring nutritional labeling, redesigned the format of the nutritional label, and set standard serving sizes for foods. Some foods are still exempt from nutritional labeling, such as meats (regulated by the USDA, not the FDA), restaurant foods, and products made by small companies in limited volume. 8.2 Definition of terms used in food labeling FAT FREE: less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving. LOW FAT: less than 3 grams of fat per serving. For more complete infomation on this subject see (URL): gopher://zeus.esusda.gov/00/feds/fda/terms 8.3 Rounding off nutrient values Often the caloric values and protein, fat, and carbohydrate amounts listed on a food label don't "add up". The most common reason for this is rounding. The NLEA specifies the following rounding rules (all per serving): FAT: Amounts between 0 and 0.5 grams can be expressed as 0. Amounts between 0.5 and 5 grams can be rounded to the nearest 0.5 gram increment. Amounts greater than 5 grams can be rounded to the nearest gram. PROTEIN AND CARBOHYDRATES: Amounts between 0 and 0.5 grams can be expressed as 0. Amounts between 0.5 and 1 gram can be expressed as "contains less than 1 gram". Amounts above 1 gram are rounded to the nearest gram. CALORIES FROM FAT: Amounts from 0 to 5 calories can be expressed as 0. Amounts between 5 and 50 can be rounded to the nearest 5 calories. Amounts above 50 calories can be rounded to the nearest 10 calories. 8.4 Mono and diglycerides The NLEA stipulates that all sources of fat must be included in the fat measurement; this includes mono and diglycerides. However, the FDA did not mandate that a specific type of test be used in measuring the fat and not all tests capture mono and diglycerides. Since mono and di-glycerides are used almost exclusively for their emulsification properties it is rare that a food contains enough of these fats to affect the overall fat content in a nutritionally significant way. 9. OTHER RESOURCES 9.1. VLF cookbooks There are several vlf cookbooks. I post two cookbook lists to this group periodically, one is an annotated listing of vegetarian books and cookbooks, the other is a simple bibliography of non-vegetarian cookbooks. The criterion for inclusion in these lists is that at least 2/3 of the recipes must have 15%CFF or less. If you are adept at adapting moderately lowfat recipes to be vlf, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of moderately lowfat books on the market. As for what's a "good" cookbook, that depends on what you are looking for (gourmet? simple? ethnic? quick? vegan? already adapted to vlf or easily adaptable? etc). Feel free to ask on the group for specific recommendations. The vlf cookbook lists are available via anonymous ftp at: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ar/artemis/book.list (non-vegetarian cookbooks) ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ar/artemis/book.list.veg (vegetarian, annotated) 9.2. Background books on vlf diets The "founding father" of the vlf diet movement in the West is Nathan Pritikin, who began experimenting with a vlf diet in the early 60's. In the late 70's, doctors Dean Ornish and John McDougall began using vlf diets to reverse heart disease and other chronic ailments. Since then there has been an explosion of people following and advocating vlf diets (including Neal Barnard, Cliff Sheats, Terry Shintani, Susan Powter and many others). The following are three of the original works on vlf diets which include advice on implementing vlf diets, explanations of why a vlf diet is beneficial and recipes. McDougall, John. The McDougall Program: 12 Days to Dynamic Health. 1990. Plume. ISBN: 0-452-26639-4. (VEGAN) Ornish, Dean. Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. 1990. Ballantine Books. ISBN: 0-345-37353-7. (VEGETARIAN) Pritikin, Nathan. Pritikin Program for Diet & Exercise. Bantam Books: 1979. ISBN: 0-553-27192-X (NON-VEGETARIAN). 9.3. Related email mailing lists EAT-LF -- Eat Low Fat Mailing List EAT-LF is for discussion of low fat/very low fat diets and is not restricted to vegetarian foods. To join send email to: majordomo@best.com With the message: subscribe eat-lf or, for the digest: subscribe eat-lf-digest FATFREE -- Fat Free Vegetarian Mailing List FATFREE is a high-volume mailing list for discussion of vlf *vegetarianism*. To join send the message "subscribe" to: fatfree-REQUEST@fatfree.com BA-FATFREE -- SF Bay Area List This is an off-shoot of the FATFREE list. It is intended for folks who live in or near the Bay Area to discuss local issues and arrange get-togethers/potlucks. Temporarily off-line. CHICAGO AREA FATFREE LIST This is local FATFREE list for those who live in or near the Chicago Area. For more information write to: lee@bio-3.bsd.uchicago.edu or ekatman@midway.uchicago.edu PHILADELPHIA AREA FATFREE GROUP Local group for those who live in or near the Philadelphia area. For more information write to: Patricia Thorp FIT-L -- Fitness List Fitness discussion list: listserv@etsuadmn.bitnet 9.4. Ftp recipe archives ALT.FOOD.FAT-FREE ARCHIVE There is an archive of postings to a.f.f-f from September through November of 1993 at the following anonymous ftp site: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/medicine/alternative-healthcare/discussion-groups/newsgroups/alt.food.fat-free Unfortunately, this site does not appear to be adding any new postings to its archive. FATFREE RECIPE ARCHIVE Recipes and other files from the FATFREE mailing list are available to all on the web and via anonymous ftp: MAIN SITE: http://www.fatfree.com ftp://ftp.fatfree.com MIRROR SITES (contain recipes only): ftp://ftp.geod.emr.ca/pub/Vegetarian/Recipes/FatFree (Canada) ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/pub/recipes (USA) ftp://ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/rec/cooking/fatfree (Germany) If you do not have access to anonymous ftp, you can retrieve files by email, using the archive server provided by halcyon. To get started, send the message "help" to "archive-server@halcyon.com". They are also available via gopher at gopher.geod.emr.ca (under vegetarian recipes). 9.5 Nutrition sites on the internet USDA food composition data (in raw form) can be found at: ftp://info.umd.edu/inforM/Educational_Resources/AcademicResourcesByTopic/AgricultureEnvironmentResources/USDA/USDAFoodCompositionData The above can also be accessed by gopher. FDA and Food Center for Safety and Nutrition web site contains FDA consumer information and NLEA bulletins: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/cfsan.html 10. THANKS! Thanks to the following for helpful suggestions and corrections: Jeffrey V. Butera Brian Manning Delaney Hayden Schultz Loyd Towe Leonidas Hepis Dean Robinson David Wheat Curtis Jackson -- Michelle Dick artemis@fatfree.com East Palo Alto, CA Owner, FATFREE Vegetarian Mailing List