I see a lot of Cool Whip on this board.  I'm going to make a suggestion that I think is healthier and tastes better.

In addition to trying to lose weight, I try to eat a generally healthy diet with as few processed foods and bizarre chemicals as possible.  Cool Whip in all its forms (including Cool Whip "free") is made with hydrogenated fats, which are pretty bad for you and an assortment of ingredients only Dr. Frankenstein could love, including high fructose corn syrup (not in the sugar free) about which there are increasing health concerns.

On the other hand, I go to Whole Foods or some other good supermarket, I buy a can of Natural by Nature whipped cream.  The ingredients are organic cream, organic nonfat milk powder, organic cane sugar, organic vanilla, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan and nitrous oxide as a whipping propellant, which, to me, is a much friendly and healthier list of ingredients, even with the glycerides.  Two tablespoons of the stuff has 15 calories and 1.5 g of fat compared to Cool Whip Free (15/0) or Cool Whip Lite (20/1).

Also, the the whipped cream has the advantage of actually tasting and feeling like whipped cream, rather than sweetened grease. 

No, I don't work for the company. I just think it's a shame to eat a chemical laden substitute, when the real thing has healthier ingredients and a comparable number of calories and fat grams.

I think most of us spend quite a bit of time (and money) trying to plan and eat as healthy and unprocessed as our busy schedules will allow. 

Cool whip is one of those items that although it may not be as healthy as other alternatives, the amount used is negligible.  Yes the ingredients do list hydrogenated coconut oil, but you need to realize that "Fat free" or trans-fat free means that there is less than half a gram of fat per serving. It could be .49 gram and be considered zero. The serving size is important. it is two tablespoons. So based on where the nearest whole foods is located to me I will have to stick to a small amount of chemicals!

I definitely see both sides of the fence here! Yes, it is super convenient to by what is available at the regular grocery stores, but it is still important to try to limit our intake of chemicals! I am actually on my way to becoming a Physician's Assistant and I am currently taking a course on the study of human cancer. It is absolutely crazy to see the very large impact that processed foods have on people's risks of getting cancer! Although it may not be realistic to have all natural foods in everything we eat, it is definitely something to think about! If we ignore this, the amount of chemicals we ingest just keep adding up and allow too many mutations to occur throughout our body! Another note... That is why it is important to have a high intake of antioxidants - that way our free radicals do not build up!!!

 Thank you for this Mirsl.  I don't like the taste of Cool Whip.  Have to add something to it like vanilla or almond or rum extract to get rid of that funky taste.  Makes sense that if it tastes funny, must be something strange in it.  I don't have a Whole Foods nearby, but maybe Raley's will have something like Natural by Nature.

Read labels, read labels, read labels :-)

Mary

Hey, mirsl, Reddi-Whip (you remember that stuff, right?) is made from heavy cream, nonfat milk, sugar, mono- and diglycerides, natural and artificial flavors, carrageenan, with nitrous oxide ("laughing gas" like the dentist uses- that's why kids "huff" this stuff) this sounds very similar to your organic, without the "organic" label. It also has only 15 calories in 2 Tablespoons and 1.5 grams of fat. Sometimes I think the "old" ways are so much better. Reddi-Whip has been around for decades!

Susan