Nutritional Healthy Potato Chips

Maybe you can't just eat one, but you can make healthier choices when it comes to potato chips. Since doctors began warning about the health risks associated with a bad diet, health-conscience individuals began looking for a way to have their chips while maintaining health. Food companies learned very quickly that if they wanted to continue to sell one of America's favorite snack foods, they'd have to change their potato chip recipes.

Potatoes

Potatoes provide a rich source of vitamin C, as well as vitamin B-6, copper, potassium, manganese and fiber, according to the nonprofit health website The World's Healthiest Foods. You can't get enough of the antioxidant vitamin C through foods. It boosts your immunity system and fights disease. Vitamin B-6, or pyridoxine, assists the body with processing protein, fat and carbohydrates, according to the "Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia." Minerals supplied by potatoes help the body with important processes, such as bone, skin and hair formation and nervous system regulation. However, during the processing of most snack foods such as chips, nutrients are lost due to cooking, and fat and salt are added.

Natural Potato Chips

Healthy potato chips are better for you, but since most still contain fat, cholesterol and sodium, it's better to limit the amount of chips you eat. MayoClinic.com suggests reducing your salt intake and eating less processed foods such as potato chips, especially if you're at risk for high blood pressure. In an effort to provide consumers with a healthier snack option, however, companies such as Frito-Lay started manufacturing natural chips with no preservatives, no artificial flavors and no artificial colors. In addition, they are made with sea salt and less fat.

Nutrition

As an example of natural chip nutrition, a serving of Frito-Lay Natural Ruffles potato chips contains no cholesterol, 160 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrates with 1 g of fiber and 2 g protein, as well as 10 percent of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C, 10 percent of the RD for vitamin E, 6 percent of the RD for niacin, 4 percent of the RD for vitamin B-6, 4 percent of the RD for phosphorus, 2 percent of the RD for iron and 2 percent of the RD for zinc.

Fat

Although the reduction of fat in most healthy potato chips is beneficial, and snack companies are now using healthier, alternative cooking oils such as sunflower oil, most healthy chips still contain saturated fat and are best eaten in moderation. For instance, in a Frito-Lay comparison, 1 serving of Natural Ruffles potato chips with reduced fat has 3 g less fat and 20 fewer calories than regular Ruffles potato chips.

Sea Salt

Snack food companies tout sea salt as a healthy added ingredient in many of their foods such as potato chips. However, according to MayoClinic.com, sea salt and table salt have the same chemical makeup. The difference between the two is that sea salt is derived from evaporated seawater and isn't as highly processed. Sea salt includes more trace minerals and other nutrients due to less processing. It's more favorable and colorful than table salt but isn't that much different nutritionally, according to MayoClinic.com. Although healthy potato chips have less sodium, it's still important to limit the amount of snack foods you eat containing sodium.