What are the health benefits of corn chips?
Other plant compounds
- Ferulic acid. This is one of the main polyphenol antioxidants in corn, which contains higher amounts of it than other cereal grains like wheat, oats, and rice ( 22, 23 ...
- Anthocyanins. This family of antioxidant pigments is responsible for the color of blue, purple, and red corn ( 23, 24 ).
- Zeaxanthin. ...
- Phytic acid. ...
Why are corn chips bad for You?
Why Is Corn Syrup Bad for You?
- Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) Unlike glucose, which most body cells can utilize, fructose breakdown can only occur inside liver cells and cause the formation of metabolites, which eventually damage ...
- Leaky gut syndrome. ...
- Obesity. ...
- Heart diseases. ...
- Diabetes mellitus. ...
- High uric acid levels and gout. ...
- Kidney stone formation. ...
Can eating corn chips make you fat?
Will eating corn chips make me fat? Yes, if the chips are fried and it’s consumed in large quantities and the excess calories are not burnt off, they are sure to make you fat. Weight gain is not ...
Are chips healthy or unhealthy?
No, says Hartung. Baked chips have been touted as healthy. Yes, they’re lower in fat (by about 50 percent), saturated fat (by 67 percent), and calories (by nearly 14 percent) than traditional potato chips, but baked chips contain less of the good stuff.
Control Calories With Small Portions
According to Mayo Clinic, snacks typically account for 100 to 300 calories in a complete meal plan. This requires a good understanding of the calories in your snacks, whether its chips vs. crackers, or even fruit.
Tortilla Chips Can Be Fattening
The amount of fat you'll get per serving varies by brand, but 1 ounce of generic tortilla chips contains 7 grams of fat, according to the USDA.
Watch the Sodium
You can enjoy the salty flavor if you stick with plain tortilla chips. They have 65 milligrams of sodium in a 1-ounce serving.
Choices to Consider
Yellow corn and white corn tortilla chips share about the same nutritional profile. While both types contain a small amount of nutrients, they have less than some other snacks.
Are Chips Bad for You?
Sadly, the answer to the question “Are chips bad for you?” is a definitive yes. As Boston-based nutritionist Laura Hartung says, “Most chips offer little to no nutritional value and are basically fried carbs full of fat with a little added salt.” Yikes!
Do Chips Have Any Good Qualities?
Ummm, no. “They’re crispy, crunchy, and a salty snack that tastes really, really good,” says Hartung. “But who can eat just one chip, or even the measly 13-chip serving size recommendation?”
Is It Okay to Eat Potato Chips Anyway?
Yes, says Hartung—if you’re monitoring portion sizes and eating them on occasion in addition to a healthy diet. That means you should be consuming lots of vegetables, fruit, lean protein, whole grains, and complex carbs.
Healthiest Chip Options
If you’re craving chips, you’re likely after one of two things: salt and crunch. You can get both in a healthier way by choosing wisely. “Baked veggie chips or whole grain crackers are a great substitute for standard chips,” suggests Minchen. They give you the crunch you want with added nutrition.
Are Sun Chips Healthier Than Regular Chips?
That’s a tough one. Yes, Sun Chips provide slightly more fiber and whole grains than a regular potato chip, but many of the flavors contain added sugar. Another downside: they’re fried.
Are Kettle-Cooked Chips Healthy?
No healthier than the regular type, Minchen says. The only difference between the two is the cooking method. “Kettle-cooked chips are made in batches and dunked into the frying oil, whereas a standard potato chip is fried using a conveyer belt.” When it comes to health and nutrition values, the two are similar, she explains.
Are Low-Salt Chips Bad for You?
Just because a bag of chips is “ low-salt ” doesn’t mean it’s healthy. “Most chips aren’t that high in sodium to begin with, at around 110 to 140 mg per 1-ounce serving,” Hartung says. Lightly Salted Lays chips, by comparison, contain about 85 g.
Is there such thing as a healthy chip? We scoured the grocery aisles to find out
Finding it hard to imagine a “healthy” chip? That’s understandable! It’s no surprise that potato chips don’t have a superfood reputation. But it’s possible to indulge responsibly with a healthier brand. You’ll want to check the nutrition facts for something with the highest fiber and protein, but the lowest saturated fats and sodium.
Roasted Beetroot and Garlic Hummus
This tasty beetroot hummus is the prettiest pink snack I’ve ever seen. The healthy recipe is handy to make in large batches and keep in the fridge for lunches and snacks throughout the week. —Elizabeth Worndl, Toronto, Ontario
Kettle Foods Organic Potato Chips Sea Salt
Yes, they're organic and have sea salt, but don't let those buzz words fool you. These chips have about the same number of calories and fat as classic Lay's. The only leg up it has over the yellow bag is the slightly—and we mean very slightly—lower sodium content. Salt is salt, so using sea salt doesn't automatically make something healthier.
Terra BBQ Sweet Potato Chips
They're made with sweet potatoes so they must be better for you than classic beige chips, right? Not so fast. While each Terra chip has 10 calories, 0.6 grams of fat, and 10.7 grams of sodium, each Lay's chip is only slightly worse with 10.6 calories, 0.7 grams of fat, 11.3 grams of sodium per crisp.
Earth Balance Kettle Chips Vegan Sour Cream & Onion
1 oz about 13 chips: 150 calories, 11 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 80 mg sodium, 15 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 2 g protein
Lay's Simply Sea Salted Thick Cut Potato Chips
The only difference between Lay's original chips and those from its "Simply" line? The Simply chips are made with expeller pressed sunflower oil while the traditional ones are coated in a blend of sunflower, corn, and/or canola oil.
Walmart Great Value Kettle Cooked Original Potato Chips
It's a common misconception that kettle cooked equals a healthier chip. While basic bagged chips are fried using a conveyer-belt-like continuous process, kettle cooked chips are dipped into oil in batches. After one batch is dunked and removed, a second batch goes in.
Quest Protein Sea Salt Chips
Made from dried potatoes, a blend of milk protein and whey protein isolate and sea salt, this crunchy snack is sure to put your sad bag of Lay's to shame. In fact, after a protein shake, these healthy chips may just be the next best thing to down after a workout.
Lesser Evil Super 4 Roasted Red Pepper
Made from a combination of white beans, quinoa, lentils and chia seeds, this clean and crunchy snack chosen in lieu of Lay's will save you 50 calories and seven grams of artery-clogging fat. The tubular crunchy bites have a flavor reminiscent of BBQ chips that is downright addictive.
Rice cakes
Rice cakes are an old-school weight loss staple. But the simple carbohydrates rank notoriously high on the glycemic index (GI)—a measure of how quickly blood rises in response to food on a scale of one to 100 (rice cakes come in at 82). High GI foods provide a rush of energy, but can leave you hungry within a few hours.
Dark chocolate chips
Surely, a few chocolate chips will satisfy your sweet tooth, right? Researchers aren't so confident. One study published in the journal Appetite showed that people consume an average of 41% more calories when snacking on unwrapped snacks.
Nuts
Sure, nuts are delicious and good for you. But, when they're coated in a layer of sugary syrup, they're far from a healthy snack. Planters Honey Roasted Peanuts contain 4 grams of added sugars per serving—which is 4 grams more sugar than you'd be eating if you chose an unflavored variety.
Gluten-free snacks
If you're not gluten-intolerant, there's no good reason to cut gluten out of your diet completely—even if you're trying to lose weight. "Many folks have fallen into the trap of thinking gluten-free is synonymous with healthier, but that's not the case," says Lisa Richards CNC, nutritionist and founder of The Candida Diet.
100-calorie packs
Reaching for a portion-controlled packet of crackers or cookies may sound like a good snack strategy for weight loss, but the mini-packs may fill you out before they fill you up, research suggests.
Fruit smoothies
A fruit smoothie sounds like a virtuous choice for an afternoon pick-me-up, but be forewarned: Many store-bought options are blended with high-calorie dairy bases and cheap sweeteners that make them more dessert-like than diet-friendly.
Granola
What happens when you take a bowl of oats, drown them in oil, cover them with sugar, and bake them on a cookie tray? You get your average granola: Highly delicious, highly caloric, highly likely to put you over your daily calorie budget in just one serving.
Are Tortilla Chips Bad for You?
No one can blame you for thinking that those crunchy chips made from corn tortillas are a healthy snack option, but that is not true actually. The reason is that by opting for those seemingly harmless chips, you would be adding extra fat, calories, and sodium to your diet.
Side Effects of Tortilla Chips
Are tortilla chips bad for you? You ask. The answer really depends on how much you eat. Eat in excess and you will end up dealing with some serious side effects such as the ones covered below.
Then How Much Can You Take?
You know tortilla chips are bad when eaten in excess, but it is equally important to know exactly how much is too much. Ideally, you should keep snacks within the 100-200 calories range. This helps satisfy your hunger without affecting your health. In case of tortilla chips, you should be eating no more than 1-ounce at a time.
Healthy Alternatives You Can Try
Are tortilla chips bad for you? Yes and considering the negative effects of eating tortilla chips, you may already be looking for some better and healthier alternatives. A good idea would be to try baked tortilla chips. They container fewer calories and are low in fat as compared to fried chips.
