Is the phrase Healthy Snack Food an oxymoron?
- Is it possible for snack food to be healthy?
- Is it possible for healthy food to be snackalicious?
These are the questions I attempted to answer last week.
When I was introduced to popchips…and decided to conduct a little experiment.
First up – can snack foods be healthy?
Nutritional Info for 1 oz (28 gms) of plain popchips
|Total lipid (fat)||~ g|
|Carbohydrate, by difference||20 g|
|Fiber, total dietary||1 g|
|Sodium, Na||280 mg|
Nutritional Info for 1 oz (28 gms) of Plain Ruffles Potato Chips
|Total lipid (fat)||10 g|
|Carbohydrate, by difference||14 g|
|Fiber, total dietary||1 g|
|Sodium, Na||160 mg|
Nutritional Info for 1 Small Potato (138 gms) – Baked with Salt
|Total lipid (fat)||0.18 g|
|Carbohydrate, by difference||29.19 g|
|Fiber, total dietary||3 g|
|Sodium, Na||337 mg|
Based strictly on the nutritional information, I see three big differences between the popchips & the Ruffles.
- the sodium content
- the macronutrient profile
I was surprised to see that the Ruffles were lower in salt than the popchips.
However, neither small bag of chips is really that big a deal when it comes to salt.
- The 160 mg found in the small bag of Ruffles = 7% of the daily RDA level.
- The 280 mg found in the popchips = 12% RDA
- The 337 mg found on the little baked potato is irrelevant as that sodium is self-applied and can be adjusted up or down as the diner prefers.
So, in regards to sodium, the Ruffles are better but as long as you’re not eating a great big bag of either potato chip, the sodium levels aren’t much of a health threat.
The popchips have 25% less calories than the Ruffles. However, just like the sodium numbers, as long as you’re sticking to the small bag, 40 calories isn’t going to make or break anyone’s diet. Another non-issue.
Here’s where I see a healthy difference between the two brands of potato chips.
Without getting into a huge debate about saturated fats, damaged fats, glycemic index & glycemic load, I believe that the high percentages of carbs & fat found in the Ruffles makes them more likely than the popchips to be stored as body-fat.
The popchips have a macronutrient profile closer to the plain baked potato.
But then again, who ever eats a plain baked potato?
When it comes to the healthiness – popchips is the better choice.
But, what about taste?
Can healthy foods taste great?
As I am not a big fan of potato chips, I enlisted the help of some friends who could be considered potato chip connoisseurs.
And they freakin’ loved the popchips.
And not because they were “healthy”. In fact, when I called them healthy chips, it was harder to get them to try them. But when they started, everyone loved them.
But then again, they also loved the beer & Paleo Margaritas.
So, there you go….popchips may be healthier than regular potato chips…but they don’t taste healthy.