Dietician reveals if veggie chips are actually healthier than potato chips

By JANE HERZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 16:47 04 Nov 2024, updated 17:53 04 Nov 2024

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Have you ever wondered if those veggie chips you've been buying at the grocery store are actually healthier than regular potato chips?

You know, the ones that promise to be chock full of vegetables like tomatoes and spinach?

Well, Toronto-based registered dietician Abbey Sharp is finally setting the record straight on whether or not the veggie chip option is healthier than a regular potato chip - and the answer may surprise you.

Sharp, who is not only an RD but a TV nutrition expert, broke it all down in a recent video.

'Veggie chips are, like, way better for you than potato chips, right?' Sharp began the video sarcastically.

'They must be, because they've got the word veggie plastered all over the cover,' she continued.

But, unfortunately, that's not quite the case.

'Veggie straws have slightly less calories in fat compared to Lay's potato chips, but Lay's offers a little less carbs and sodium, and a bit more protein and fiber,' she said.

In the clip, she showed a chart comparing the two chips - with veggie straws coming in at 130 calories and Lays having 160 calories.

In terms of carbs and sodium, veggie straws had 17 grams of carbs and 220mg of sodium while Lays had 15 grams of carbs and 170mg of sodium.

Plus, Lays offered 1 gram of fiber and 2 grams of protein in their serving, while veggie straws offered none in both categories.

'None of which is anything to really write home about anyway, but the veggie straws must contain more micronutrients, right?' she continued.

Wrong.

'First of all, potatoes are a vegetable, and despite the misleading marketing, veggie straws are also made of potatoes,' the recipe writer revealed.

'More specifically, a combination of potato starch and potato flour, so it's kind of like, ground-up chips,' she added.

Sharp said that many of the 'healthier' ingredients that are included in some veggie chips, like tomato paste and spinach powder, are mostly just there to give the straws a different color.

'There's also a lot more processing that has to go into a veggie straw, whereas Lays are literally just potatoes, oil and salt,' the dietician explained.

'So, if you wouldn't treat Lays as a substitute for vegetables, I wouldn't assume that veggie straws are a good swap, either,' she admitted.

At the end of the day, Sharp recommended just eating whichever one you like more -and making sure it's part of a 'balanced diet.'

In the comments section of the video, many people agreed that although they may not be the healthiest, veggie straws definitely taste better than regular old potato chips.

'The veggie straws honestly taste better too to me, idk Lays are just meh to me,' one person wrote.

Another agreed, 'Same. Love veggie straws so much more. They have a nice umami after taste.'

'For me it’s the volume eating. I feel more satisfied with the veggie straws because of the quantity I can eat and I have to chew them more. Lays feel like dust after one chew haha,' someone else typed.

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