Diet food 3240723 221684939 2008-06-25T16:49:52Z Shereth 107782 /* See also */ no need to link to individual diet books, that's what categories are for {{Refimprove|date=May 2008}} '''Diet food''' (or '''dietetic food''') refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification [[Dieting|diet]]. Although the usual intention is weight loss and change in body type, sometimes the intention is to aid in gaining weight or muscle as in [[bodybuilding supplements]]. ==Terminology== In addition to ''diet'' other words or phrases are used to identify and describe these foods including ''light'' or ''lite'', ''low calorie'', ''low fat'', ''no fat'', ''fat free'', ''no sugar'', ''sugar free'', and ''zero calorie''. In some areas use of these terms may be regulated by law. For example in the U.S. a product labeled ''low fat'' must not contain more than 3 grams of fat per serving; and to be labeled ''fat free'' it must contain less than 0.5 grams of fat per serving.<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/fdac/special/foodlabel/lite.html A Little 'Lite' Reading], U.S. Food and Drug Administration</ref> ==Process== The process of making a diet version of a food usually requires finding an acceptable low calorie substitute for some high calorie ingredient. This can be as simple as replacing some or all of the food's [[sugar]] with a [[sugar substitute]] as is common with diet soft drinks such as [[Coca-Cola]]. In some snacks, the food may be baked instead of fried thus reducing the calories. In other cases, low fat ingredients may be used as replacements. In [[whole grain]] foods, the higher fiber content effectively displaces some of the starch component of the flour. Since fiber has no calories, this results in a modest caloric reduction. Another technique relies on the intentional addition of other reduced-calorie ingredients, such as [[resistant starch]] or [[dietary fiber]], to replace part of the flour and achieve a more significant caloric reduction. <ref>[http://www.fibergourmet.com/FiberTech.aspx Resistant starch replacement system]</ref> ==Controversy== In diet foods which replace the sugar with lower-calorie substitutes, there is some controversy based around the possibility that the [[sugar substitute]]s used to replace sugar are themselves harmful. Even if this question is satisfactorily resolved (which remains unlikely at this time{{Fact|date=May 2008}}), the question still remains as to whether the benefits of caloric reduction would outweigh the potential loss. In many low-fat and fat-free foods the fat is replaced with sugar, flour, or other full-calorie ingredients, and the reduction in caloric value is small, if any.<ref>[http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/chrt_calcomp.html Fat-Free vs. Regular Calorie Comparison], U.S. Food and Drug Administration</ref> ==See also== *[[Calorie restriction|Calorie restriction diet]] *[[Low-carbohydrate diet]] *[[Olestra]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Nutrition]] {{food-stub}} [[de:Light-Produkt]] [[nl:Lightproduct]]