Fat-Free is not Sugar-Free!

(Sorry Dad) Like any Egyptian man over the age of 50, my father wants to get rid of some stubborn belly fat that has accumulated over the years. Oh! And like any Egyptian father, he knows everything.
Today, we went to the supermarket together to shop for some food supplies. I looked inside the freezer and found this ice-cream with a "0% Fat" label on it. I immediately grabbed some for my old man.

We got home, unpacked the shopping bags and he could hardly wait to try some of the new magic ice-cream. "So I can eat as much as I want of this, and never get fat?!" He asked me, with more than a mouthful of chocolate and vanilla. It was the second pack already he was eating. "No, dad." I answered, rolling my pupils half-way around my head, "You need to be a bit careful because of the sugar content.". "Sugar?!" he shouted, "I thought you said it's fat-free!". After the awkward 30 seconds of mutual eye-gazing had passed, he broke it by asking yet another question, with skepticism written all over his face: "So, you mean sugar doesn't contain any fat?". I telepathically read the rest of the question in his mind: "Then why the hell do nutritionists warn you not eat too many sweets?". So, I just decided to not to start the chemistry lecture, because he's always right and I wouldn't have gotten anywhere anyway.

With all the exposure to the most amazing sources of nutrition information on the Internet, I sometimes seem to forget that our parents come from a very different generation. Back in their time, there was no such thing as carbohydrates or fats.. there was just bread and cheese. Calorie-counting was probably non-existent and everyone just lived with a ignorantly happy and ate 3 meals a day. Are our parents ignorant? Or is it that our generation has completely obsessed itself with the skinny-model look and the muscle-building protein shakes?

Just do me favor - where applicable -, read the 'Nutrition Information' label before you consume anything.. you'd be surprised.