Health & Food

Options for Healthier Chips

One of my favorite snack foods to discuss with clients are chips! Of course not all chips are healthy, and in fact most of them aren’t healthy at all. A couple months ago I found this article on CookingLight.com, which listed the top ten most healthy chips.Healthier Chips 1

Source: iStockPhoto

I don’t always agree with these articles, but this one was written by an RD (making it much more credible, in my opinion) and I agreed with each and every one! Here are some of the chips that were listed;

  • Popchips; Salt & Pepper
  • Terra Chips; Plain Sweet Potato ** I would argue that all Terra Chips are a healthier alternative to regular potato chips. I tell clients about these quite often **Healthier Chips 2
  • Food Should Taste Good; Blue Corn Tortilla Chips ** I’m also a fan of their sweet potato flavor, and olive flavor…..YUM! **
  • Kettle Brand; Baked Potato Chips with Sea Salt
  • Sunchips; Original
  • Miguel’s Organic Gluten Free Dippers(this was not on the list, I added it!)

Many times when I’m trying to explain to people that a certain chip is actually healthier than others, they look at me in disbelief because the fat content is typically still really high. So, what do I consider a “healthier” chip?

  • Low sodium (under 140 mg per serving)
  • Under 1 gram of saturated fat, and of course ZERO trans fat
  • 2 or more grams of fiber
  • Good source (10% of DV, or more) of some type of vitamin or mineral; such as vitamin A in the Terra chips

When people tell me they eat pretzels for a “healthy snack” (ahem…DAD!), I try to nicely explain to them that there is zero health benefit from pretzels (and no, I could care less if they are baked and not fried);

What about whole wheat pretzels? Much better, in my opinion, because at least you are getting a good source of natural vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber.

QUESTION: What’s your favorite chip? Healthy…or not, I guess I don’t care for this question. My favorite chips are Doritos! The chips I eat most often would be Terra sweet potato chips, and also the veggie chips I buy in bulk at the store.

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Hi, my name is Rebecca Houston and I am a writer. I write about health, healthy food and daily meal plan for various websites.
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