Eating potato chips occasionally is unlikely to negatively affect your overall health, but eating them regularly can lead to getting too many unhealthy ingredients and not enough vitamins and minerals. Knowing why chips are unhealthy may encourage you to choose a more nutritious snack next time your stomach growls.
You’re eating too many potato chips if you constantly feel bloated and puffy. You may also feel puffy and bloated due to weight gain caused by eating too many high-calorie chips. “The size of chip bags is getting bigger and bigger. Manufacturers know it’s hard to stop eating chips once you start. The more salty, high-fat chips you eat, the more you want,” and the more weight you can put on, says Leann Poston, MD, MBA, MEd, a doctor with Invigor Medical.
More than 1 serving a day is too much, shares Dr. Lehman. One serving is 1 ounce or 18 chips.But even eating one serving of potato chips a day is a lot. Alexis Parcells, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and owner of Parcells Plastic Surgery says that you should really be limiting your potato chip consumption to no more than the palm of your hand.
Chips are typically served salted or flavored, giving them a high sodium content. Too much sodium can cause various health issues, like increased blood pressure and heart disease, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
The sodium in a small bag of potato chips may not seem excessive, but it’s important to watch the salt in your diet. FYI, 9 out of 10 Americans consume too much sodium.
The other main concern about chips is that they're typically fried in oil, making them high in fat. A standard serving of potato chips contains 12 percent of your daily recommended amount of fat, and 5 percent of this comes from saturated fat. Certain fats, like those found in fatty fish, are healthy, but the fats in potato chips are not. They are empty calories
A lot of the harmful effects of eating potato chips come from the way in which they are cooked. The perfect chip is fried until it is lightly golden brown. Achieving this technique requires high heat. Chips are traditionally washed, blanched and deep-fat fried until crispy. While fat certainly can make foods tasty, it’s long been known that foods that are high in fat are typically not good for you.