New year, new pantry?
A new survey finds that 19% of US adults plan to eat healthier in 2025. One way to do that is to ditch ultra-processed foods, which are often bursting with calories, sugar, fat and salt.
When looking for better alternatives to cookies, potato chips and marshmallow cereals, beware foods that wear a health halo. They appear nutritious but are not, like sugar-filled yogurt and coconut oil high in saturated fat.
Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of bariatric surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital, warns against one popular health halo — vegetable chips.
“People think of cauliflower being a healthy food, which if boiled or eaten in a salad it is,” Roslin told The Post. “But if making cauliflower chips [or] cauliflower pizza crust, that is mostly corn starch and is less beneficial.”
Roslin said processed vegetable chips are calorically dense, covered in salt and “not filling.” They are “no better for you than a potato chip.”
He prefers fresh vegetables with a hummus spread and potatoes with the skin on.
“A potato grows in the ground,” Roslin explained. “It is healthy, all be it that the inside is mostly starch. What makes it less healthy is what you do to it, like making it a potato chip.”
Toronto-based registered dietitian Abbey Sharp also praises the power of the potato.
Potatoes are a good source of potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B6 and are naturally fat-free, cholesterol-free and sodium-free, Sharp said. They lose their luster when you fry, salt or cover them in butter or sour cream.
“Potatoes do not inherently make you gain weight,” Sharp said in a September TikTok.
Sharp, who calls herself a “health halo detective,” is also skeptical of veggie chips. She notes that while veggie straws appear healthier, they are nutritionally similar to potato chips.
If you’re still rooting for veggie chips, Eat This, Not That! recently ranked 11 brands based on calories, saturated fat and sodium content.
“Some veggie chips indeed offer additional dietary fiber and vitamins depending on the vegetables used,” registered dietitian Caroline Thomason wrote for the outlet, “but these snacks aren’t necessarily lower in calories, sodium or fat compared to traditional potato chips.”
