What Kind Of Potato Chips Can You Snack On To Help You Lose Weight?

Snacking on traditional potato chips will not help you lose weight. Yet, depriving yourself of all treats is not a good idea either. Reaching a balance is the goal, and some potato chips are better than others. Some offer more nutrients while others simply cut out some bad ingredients. Most chips typically contain an abundance of saturated fats and sodium. Eat these in limited amounts, paying close attention to serving sizes, when trying to lose weight.

Baked or Fried?

Baked chips offer more health advantages than fried chips. To be fair, the oil utilized in frying has a significant impact on how wholesome any chips will be. All-natural, vegetable-derived oils can provide good fats, but baking does not require any oil bathing at all for the potatoes. Baking chips usually reduces the fat content by half compared with frying. For weight loss, make sure the fats included are only of the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated varieties.

Organic and All-Natural

One bonus in all-natural and organic chips is the short ingredient list. These potato chips go through processing yet contain nothing artificial. Potatoes, salt and oil are ideally, the only three ingredients in a bag of natural chips. Multiple unpronounceable ingredients will not help you lose weight. Typically, those items are difficult to digest, giving the body more time to absorb the fat. Trading out your regular chips with organic or all-natural chips can help you in your weight-loss goals.

Making Your Own Chips

One way to lose weight while munching on potato chips is to make them yourself, ensuring that only natural ingredients and proper cooking methods are used. It takes about 20 minutes in a 400-degree oven to make chips. Thoroughly clean your potatoes, then slice them into thin chips. Place them in a bowl with just enough extra virgin olive oil to coat them and lay them flat in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Add salt, pepper and your choice of flavorings such as garlic or Parmesan. By using freshly ground pepper and a salt substitute such as No Salt, you further enhance the worthy qualities of your chips, adding potassium while excluding sodium.

Light Potato Chips

Potato chips have been around forever but there are alternatives to the traditional chip. Several brands offer light versions of their everyday potato chips. In some cases offering zero fat and a fraction of the calories, light chips are a worthwhile option for losing weight. Lightly salted or sea-salted light chips are good choices because lowering your sodium intake allows for more efficient weight loss.