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Just a few nagging questions I have while tweaking my fat loss diet. Hope for some help from you guys here -

1. When buying low fat products you also have to watch out for the sugar content as well correct ? Because I have been warned some low fat yogurts, although low in fat as on the label, the sugar content is usually very high still despite the low fat.

2. When concerning fat content in food, it is more the saturated fat you need to worry about because that is the bad fats, while the rest of the fat content is more of the carbs. True or false ?

3. Papaya and orange juice with crushed ice and yogurt makes an excellent high vitamin c smoothie. So is Papaya high in protein and vitamin c as the health sites tell me ?

4. Soups are a great low fat and low carb lunch, so I can eat them as much as I want as long as they are 'clear' and not those thick and creamy variety.

5. Eating six small meals throughout the day keeps your metabolism going better than the normal three squares deal ?

6. is it red capsican or it is green capsican that really helps rev up your metabolism when you add it to your food ?

Just to get started on the answers to the questions, I thought I'd chime in.

To make it simple, there are three main components to food: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Depending on your goals (weight loss, weight gain, muscle gain, fueling up for high-intensity or endurance activities, etc.), one can vary the proportions of these three components in your diet.

In the carbohydrate category, there are basically two kinds: simple and complex. Simple carbs are essentially sugar in its various forms--white sugar, corn syrup, honey, as well as the various naturally occurring sugars that are found in fruits, vegetables and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are food substances that eventually get broken down into sugar, for example, starches in vegetables, fruit and grains like wheat products (bread, flour) and rice. So on a label, what you see on the first line is the total carbohydrates, say 12 grams total, and then afterward, the amount of simple carbs in that total is broken out and listed as "sugars," say, 2 grams. Which means that 10g of the carbs are complex carbs derived from starches.

In the fat category, there are basically two sources: fats that come from vegetable sources (olive oil, corn oil, nuts) and fats that come from animal sources (all the fat that is in meats, as well as fats derived from milk---cream, butter, cheese.)

So, in light of the above:

#1--A low-fat product, like yogurt, may well be still very high in calories and sugar, yes. Indeed, many low-fat products are not especially healthy, because fats are the component in foods that convey flavor, so to punch up the flavor of a low-fat food, a lot of time the manufacturer will add a lot of sugar and salt. You have to read the label carefully. However, if you aren't watching your calories and don't eat that much sugar in general, it's not a bad choice to choose a low-fat product over a full-fat. Lowering the level of dietary fat is a good idea over all.

#2: Yes, the level of saturated fats are what one should be on guard against in choosing a food. However, a fat is a fat and a carb is a carb--two different substances. A good rule of thumb is to avoid animal fats (fat in meats, butter, cheese, eggs), fried foods (which alter vegetable fats in ways that are not healthy) as well as "trans fats," oils like palm oil and other oils that are used in manufactured products and added to lengthen the shelf life of foods. As much as possible it's good to get one's portion of dietary fats from unsaturated fats, vegetable oils and nuts.

#3: Don't know much about papaya, sorry.

#4: Soups are usually pretty low fat, as you say, if they are clear, because in general, the creamy ones are made of milk, cream and butter all of which are higher in fat. However, depending on what is in the soup, they may or may not be low in carbohydrates: soups with tons of noodles, rice, beans, potatoes, carrots and so forth can be very high in carbohydrates, and likewise, milk--even non-fat milk--has a fair bit of sugar (milk sugar/lactose) in it as well. But if you don't care about your carb intake or calories, go for it. Keep in mind though that any kind of canned soup is usually very very high in salt. If you choose a soup, a clear, salt-reduced or salt-free broth (homemade is best) cooked with fresh vegetables and some lean protein can be an excellent choice, easy to make and satisfying.

5.: Eating more frequent smaller meals is usually better than a couple of large ones, keeps the energy level high, spaces out the calories.

6: Don't know about capsacin. Sorry.

Several points here:

1) Processed food compared to home prepared is not as nutritionaly good for you. But as was said the low fat version is better than the hight fat. The main guidance here is the overall calorie content.

2) Good fats bad fats. Its undoubted good fats are good for you. But people get over zealous and the thing to remember is that any fat in excess is not good for you. The other thing to take into account total dietary fat ie from your other food choices.

3) Smoothies, and fruit juices: Well far better than a full fat coke or a mcdonalds milk shake but be wary. When you make a food source a liquid you can consume far more calories than if you were to eat it whole. So whilst a glass of OJ, for example, may seem a good idea you would be better eating the whole fruit as a solid when on a diet.

4) 6 small meals: Not strictly true. Eating 6 times a day is supposedly more optimal. But there is limited research to show that these all being of equal calorific value is of an advantage. ie daily allowance 3000 therefore 6 meals of 500 calories. Its far better to wight these according to your schedule and how you normaly eat. So if you eat a larger dinner then weight it that way. So it could look something like this:

Breakfast 600
Snack 300
Lunch 700
Snack 300
Dinner 800
Snack 300

3000

ps protein content of papaya is pretty minimal to be honest when compared to the carb value

this is a good resource for food data checking you dont need to be a member to do check:

http://www.nutritiondata.com

Capsaicin is the "Holy fuck this is hot" component of peppers. A green sweet bell pepper has no capsaicin but cayenne has a crap load of the stuff. So, it is depends on the chile.

I take a Cayenne herbal supplement by Nature's Way that gets me plenty of Capsaicin without burning my tongue off.

You are forgetting some key elements to a fat burning diet.

Fiber - You can get this fro many sources. Just be careful it does not bring your carb count up too much. Personally, I crave salty foods, so some triscuts, cottage cheese and salsa makes a great snack for me.

Water - drink lots of it

Sleep - get 8 hours

Calcium - helps burn fat

I am trying to do the small meals thing, with varied luck. I love to eat late at night and end up going out to eat too often.

DJBens77 saidFiber - You can get this fro many sources. Just be careful it does not bring your carb count up too much.

I don't believe fiber itself is converted to blood glucose, hence its passing through your GI track. If anything, fiber slows down the digestion of simpler carbs. So, if my understanding is correct you shouldn't have to worry about your fiber consumption pushing up your carb count too much.

Could be that my understanding is wrong too.

As far as I know, your body can't process Fiber into any kind of energy source, so it just passes through your body. Hence why it cleans the GI tract; it just scrapes it out as it goes through.

Whole kernel, unshelled, unground flax seeds are apparently great for this as well, as your body can't process them at all.

And if you look on some of the protein/health bars (here in Canada at least) they will sometimes list the net carbs, which is after subtracting the carbs they have to list from Fiber, because Fiber doesn't give you any real calories.

That's my understanding at least.

Well, you might have to work up to this if not already a part of your diet, but try intergrating Cayenne pepper or Paprika into the spices you use regularly. Cayenne has been shown to boost metabolism when taken prior to sleep or in the morn. Also, ginger can have the same effect (if you've got a Chinese Market where you live, get some of those "baby" ginger roots which are really ginger with some cinnamon and pepper added...it's good but hot if you bite instead of sucking, hehe).

Perhaps some will tell you differently but I think you shouldn't eat anything 4-5 hours prior to going to sleep as digestion during rest can add the fat. Ciao!