Let’s face it. We all indulge in snacking, especially potato chips and soya chips, and some may go for protein chips. Unless you’re a professional athlete or a dedicated fitness enthusiast, or someone with an illness that demands a particular lifestyle, more likely than not, you occasionally indulge in snacking. While the occasional cheat snack is permissible, too much snacking can ultimately affect your health and put you in danger of various illnesses in the long term.
Are Chips Good for Health? You Decide!
Chips are usually the most common and highly demanded snacking option across the world. Thinly sliced potatoes, deep-fried and seasoned with the choicest of spices, give rise to these packets of sheer deliciousness. However, we all know that greasy feeling we get when we have a packet of chips or the hours of workout we need to put in to get back our agility after even a week of eating poorly.
In the modern world, there seems to be a perfect solution to this – Protein Chips. They are low calorie, don’t have empty carbs, and even supply us with healthy protein, all the while tasting pretty much like our conventional chips. Does this sound too good to be true? Let’s take a deep dive into protein chips and see if they truly are the wonder that they claim to be.
What are Protein Chips?
Protein chips are usually made out of ingredients that minimize or totally absolve the empty carbohydrates than conventional potato chips come with. They are known to use natural flavours according to the brands and avoid the extra calories that go in with traditional snack foods.
What’s Good about Protein Chips?
Protein chips are an excellent alternative to conventional chips. But, how good are they? And what is so good about protein chips?
1. A Guilt-Free Snack
Snacking is sometimes inevitable. But the pang of guilt that comes after you have nearly finished a whole bag of chips is debilitating. They can help you deal with your occasional cravings in a slightly more healthy way and can play a role in taking away some of that guilt.
2. Help with Emotional Eating
When we feel emotional or stressed, sometimes we turn to comfort food to soothe ourselves. And while temporarily it might make us feel good, it affects our health, making us feel worse in the long term. But cravings don’t care for our logic; they’re emotional! Protein chips offer a good alternative to take care of those emotional outbursts. Without becoming too calorie-laden, these light chips can help you through the day when consumed in moderation.
3. Support your Protein Needs
Maintaining a balanced diet can be a tricky area to navigate. Especially if you follow a vegan or plant-based lifestyle, it can be more onerous to get your protein intake right. While you cannot depend on protein chips entirely, they can be an excellent addition to your balanced diet that can also help with your macronutrients.
4. Super Convenient
Travelling can be a Herculean task, and sometimes you just don’t have the time or energy to make a good healthy meal for yourself. During such times, protein chips can be your saviour. They’re light, can be carried very easily and can be considerably filling. Be it on a train, a plane, or a drive, they can be your go-to snack and also provide you with nutrients.
So, What’s Bad about Protein Chips?
So far, protein chips seem to make the cut the most wonderful snacking option ever to exist. But are there any downsides to it as well? Let’s explore.
1. Still a Processed Food
No matter what the packaging says, protein chips still fall under the category of highly processed foods. Anything that you do not make at home from scratch and buy from outside in a packet is processed food. And all processed food contains preservatives, added colours and other ingredients that allow them to have a considerably longer shelf life. So even if they are healthy because they do not have as many carbs, they still contain high amounts of sodium, artificial flavours, etc., which can be pretty unhealthy if consumed regularly.
2. Can Encourage Snacking
When you have a guilt-free option to snack all day, chances are, you will end up snacking way more than you did earlier. This takes away almost all the benefits of protein chips because, honestly, nothing can replace clean eating and a healthy lifestyle.
3. May Put you in the Habit of Cheating
Once you get into the habit of snacking, it is a steep slope to the practice of cheating and eating poorly. Permitting yourself to overly indulge in protein chips because they are a healthy option might cause you to crave other savoury snacks, and you may end up falling into habits that you might have fought hard to get over.
4. Can Make your Healthy Transition Slightly Difficult
Protein chips are meant to replace the unhealthy snacks in your diet. However, if you replace your post-workout smoothie with protein chips, you’re likely making an unhealthy change in your diet. So it is very important to consider what you are replacing with protein chips.
The 5 Best Protein Chips
Now that you know the pros and cons of protein chips and you have made your decision to go ahead and buy them, here are the 5 best protein chip options in the market.
1. Quest Nutrition Tortilla Style Protein Chips
These chips are considered the best in the sports nutrition chips section. Available in different flavours like chili lime, nacho cheese, spicy-sweet chili, etc., they appear extremely delicious and come in attractive packaging. They have dairy-based proteins and claim to provide the body with 9 amino acids.
2. Twin Peaks Protein Puffs
These puffs are available in different flavours, like parmesan and barbeque, and are known to contain milk protein isolate. It has low sugar and low fat and maintains the level of protein in it.
3. Popcorners Vegan Protein Chips
For those looking for vegan snack options in protein chips, this is your choice. These non-fried, gluten-free spicy chips are all you need for a relaxed evening with your favourite comfort food.
4. IWON Organics Caramelised Onion Protein Puffs
This is a sustainable brand that allows you to give back to the community while enjoying your favourite snack. The brand donates a portion of its profits to Heart of a Hero, a non-profit organization. Apart from that, these puffs are infused with delicious flavours and organic, plant-based proteins.
5. Kay’s Naturals Protein Chips
Made out of soy protein, these are gluten-free and crispy parmesan protein chips. They also have vegan alternatives and include plant-based protein making them a nutritious choice. They have low sugar and can make for a good snack.
5 Healthy Protein Chip Alternatives
If you still don’t want to go for store-bought chips, here are some more healthy chip alternatives that you can make at home.
- Kale Chips – Kale is a healthy ingredient, and having kale chips can be just as satisfying and healthy at the same time.
- Sweet potato chips – sweet potatoes are much healthier than conventional potatoes. So give these chips a try and enjoy your snack.
- Carrot chips – Carrots are known to be highly healthy and tasty. Enjoy your favourite carrots in the form of chips.
- Zucchini chips – zucchini has to be the most versatile of veggies. Try making Zucchini chips and enjoy your evening snacking them away.
- Spinach chips – spinach might not be liked by everyone. But when you turn it into chips, everyone is sure to enjoy them.
Those were a few recipes of alternatives to store bought chips. Whether you choose to buy protein chips from the market or make other chips at home, remember to strike a balance to take care of your health.
Also Read: A good protein snack is the best addition to your diet plans for a healthy life. You must take care of your health.
