Are Veggie Straws Bad For You?
Short answer
Veggie straws are mostly processed vegetable powder. They’ve got all the bad and none of the good; they’re probably worse for you than potato chips.
Recommended Alternative
Harmful to your health. A few benefits may be associated, but the bad outweighs the good. Moderation is extremely important.
View Full Grading System
Category 'A'
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Side effects are rare. Things rated an 'A+' are typically necessary for survival (for example, water).
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. A few harmful qualities may be associated, but only under certain circumstances such as an allergic reaction.
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Harmful qualities may be associated, but aren't usually serious.
It is important to note that even the best things in life can become bad in immoderate amounts. So, although something may be rated an 'A+', overconsumption/overdoing can bring unwanted effects.
Category 'B'
Very beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B+' may have a few harmful qualities to pay attention to.
Overall beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B' may have some harmful qualities to pay attention to.
More beneficial to your health than not. However, harmful qualities are most likely associated and shouldn't be overlooked.
The main difference between category 'A' and category 'B' is the harmful qualities typically present in 'B' items. Serious side effects are usually uncommon, but are still possible and should be taken note of.
Category 'C'
Both beneficial and harmful qualities associated. Things rated a 'C+' are typically a bit more on the beneficial side. Still, moderation is important.
A fairly even ratio of beneficial and harmful qualities. Moderation is important. Very general topics that can lean towards both sides of the spectrum will be placed here as well. Rice, for example, can be good or bad depending on the type.
More harmful than beneficial. Side effects are common, especially when consumed/done excessively. Moderation is very important.
Category 'C' usually denotes to both good and bad qualities. When it comes to this category, it is important to keep this word in mind: moderation.
Category 'D'
Harmful to your health. Although benefits may be associated, the bad most likely outweighs the good. Moderation is very important.
Harmful to your health. A few benefits may be associated, but the bad outweighs the good. Moderation is extremely important.
Harmful to your health. Very few, if any, benefits are present. Things in this category should be avoided as much as possible.
Category 'D' is typically for things that are more harmful than beneficial. While consuming/doing something unhealthy once in a blue moon shouldn't hurt, we definitely recommend eliminating 'D' items as a regular part of your routine/diet.
Category 'F'
Category 'F' is for things that fail to bring anything beneficial to the table, and are very harmful to your health. We recommend completely avoiding anything in this category. Long-term side effects of 'F' items are usually very serious.
Category 'N'
'N' stands for neutral. Things placed into this category are generally (a) neither good nor bad for you, or (b) lack the necessary evidence to reach any conclusions.
Long answer
Many of the ingredients in veggie straws are extracted powders and starches from vegetables. The extraction process by which these novel food-like products are produced breaks down many of the nutrients that you would find in the vegetables they're derived from. This process gets rid of a lot of the good stuff - although you likely associate veggie straws with vegetables, they've been processed to the point where they're much flimsier from a nutritional perspective.
Veggie straws also have a high number of calories from fat. Garden veggie straws have 130 calories per serving, almost half of which come from fat. Most of that fat is introduced via the oils that are used in the veggie straws’ preparation.
There's little that's good for you in veggie straws. Despite coming from vegetables, they contain almost no fiber - that's because the vegetables have been processed into dust. They have next to no protein content. There's a smidgen of Vitamin C and a small amount of iron. Still, the calories that you get from a package of veggie straws are likely to be mostly empty.
This is an important point because veggie straws are marketed as a healthier alternative to potato chips. Whole potato chips are good sources of certain b vitamins. They also have protein. While the potato chip production process isn't exactly healthy, it preserves these qualities of the chips - they've still got the b vitamins and the protein afterward.
Veggie straws use potato powder; they're nutritionally bereft of the protein and b vitamins, however, because the potato has been processed. So there's a solid argument to be made that potato chips are actually more nutritious than veggie straws. Tomatoes are another good source of nutrients rendered unhealthy by powdering.
The body of the veggie straw - the small, french-fry-like snack that you eat - isn’t made from a sliced vegetable. It’s baked from a combination of the powdered vegetables in veggie straws. Because of this, the straw has none of the nutritional benefits you get from whole vegetables and whole vegetable products.
This, perhaps, is the essence of why veggie straws are so unhealthy: they’re only related to vegetables in the loosest sense of the word. Veggie straws take the good name of vegetables and use it for marketing purposes to triumph over potato chips - a similarly unhealthy product, in many respects, that nonetheless retains some of the nutrients of a whole vegetable. Don’t be fooled by the lie: veggie straws aren’t good for you.
Possible long-term side effects
- obesity
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diabetes
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high cholesterol
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heart disease
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hypertension
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depression
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anxiety
Ingredients to be aware of
Our Wellness Pick
(what is this?)
Hippeas Chickpea Puffs
- Vegan cheeze flavors
- 3g plant protein
- 2g dietary fiber
- Gluten-free snack
- Crunchy & satisfying
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