A nutritionist talks about why chips are actually dangerous, besides the fact that it’s hard to stop eating them.
What are chips made of?
Chips are a popular, but far from the healthiest, product. They contain almost no vitamins, minerals, or protein. Instead, they are full of calories from fats and carbohydrates. There is also little fiber in chips that is good for digestion. Therefore, such snacks are considered “empty calories” that increase the caloric content of the diet, but do not bring any benefit to the body.
150 grams of salted chips contain an average of 500 kilocalories, 52 grams of carbohydrates, 31 grams of fa,t and only 6 grams of protein.
Carbohydrates
Potatoes for chips are processed at high temperatures. Because of this, they are depleted of useful nutrients: potato starch is broken down into simple sugars, which are quickly absorbed and give a fleeting feeling of satiety.
Fats
Chips are usually fried in large quantities of vegetable oil: palm, sunflower, corn, rapeseed. These oils make the product crispy and high in calories.
When oils are heated, trans fats are formed – compounds that have a negative impact on health, especially if consumed frequently. For example, trans fats increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and other health problems.
Salt
To enhance the taste and extend the shelf life, table salt (sodium chloride), sodium glutamate, calcium, and magnesium salts are added to the chips. These substances are not dangerous in moderate quantities, but their excess in the diet can lead to hypertension and kidney problems.
Why Doctors Don’t Recommend Eating Lots of Chips
Chips are not harmful to health in themselves. This is confirmed by scientific studies. For example, in one of them, a group of volunteers ate a portion of French fries every day for a month (their composition is similar to that of chips) . At the end of the experiment, their health indicators were compared with a group of people who ate almonds instead of potatoes. There was no significant difference.
However, it is still not worth repeating such an experiment. There are long-term consequences to the daily snack of chips.
Lead to weight gain
Because of the oil, chips are quite high in calories, but they don’t fill you up for long. This is typical of highly processed foods: instant noodles, frozen pizza, soda, sugary cereals. They don’t fill you up like a full meal, but they add extra energy that your body doesn’t use, and stores as fat.
Research shows that eating chips causes people to gain weight in the long term. Each daily serving (about 15 grams of chips, about 160 calories) leads to an average weight gain of one kilogram over four years.
This is gained unnoticeably, but steadily. That is why chips are called one of the products that are especially strongly associated with gradual weight gain.
Increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease
Chips contain many compounds that negatively affect metabolism, blood vessels, and the heart muscle. For example, trans fats increase the level of “bad” cholesterol, which can accumulate in the walls of blood vessels and clog them. Because of this, the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases increases.
The simple carbohydrates in chips cause sharp spikes in blood sugar levels. This causes the pancreas to produce a lot of insulin, a hormone that helps absorb sugar. If a person eats chips a lot and often, over time, this can lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which cells lose sensitivity to insulin. And this is a direct path to type 2 diabetes.
Causes swelling
Chips are usually high in salt, often more than you need in a day. When we eat these foods regularly, our bodies accumulate excess sodium, the main component of salt.
Because of this, the kidneys work to the point of exhaustion and often do not have time to remove excess fluid, which usually leaves with urine. Water is retained in the body and accumulates in tissues – this causes edema.
Edema usually appears:
- on the face (especially in the morning – a “crumpled” face after a salty snack at night);
- on your feet – by evening, your shoes may become tight;
- on the hands, rings are difficult to remove, and fingers swell.
If you eat a lot of salty foods (not just chips, but also snacks, sausages, fast food), edema becomes chronic, and the load on the heart and blood vessels increases. This can lead to more serious health problems: hypertension, renal and cardiac failure.
May aggravate gastrointestinal problems
Chips irritate the mucous membrane because of salt, flavorings, seasonings, and fat. It is especially harmful to eat them on an empty stomach: this increases the production of hydrochloric acid in it. If the mucous membrane is already inflamed, as happens with gastritis, the condition may worsen.
In addition, chips are a heavy food. They are digested slowly, remain in the stomach for a long time and increase the load on the digestive system. With frequent use, this can provoke chronic irritation and inflammation, and in combination with stress, irregular meals and other bad habits, lead to gastritis and ulcers.
How many chips can you eat without harming your health?
Chips are not the healthiest food, but you don’t need to completely deny yourself your favorite treat if it brings you pleasure. A small pack of chips once a month (40 grams) on the background of a balanced diet will not cause harm.
This amount contains 200–250 kcal, which is about 10–15% of the daily calorie intake for an adult. This is the proportion of the daily diet that the WHO recommends allocate to foods with saturated fats.
However, this does not mean that you can eat chips every day. Saturated fats and salt are also found in other products: butter, cheese, baked goods, ready-made sauces, and many others. If you eat chips every day, it is easy to exceed the safe limit without noticing.