French Fries vs. Chips and Salsa
Hey there! I hope you are having an awesome day!
I want to talk to you today about something most of us love to eat a lot… French fries and chips and salsa.
Unsurprisingly, french fries have been getting a bad rap these days. These hot, delicious, and salty snacks, on average, hold inside of them roughly 400 calories, 22g of fat, and 50g of carbs. AND… It is usually just the side dish. Mucho grande!
Before you have even ordered, a basket of chips and salsa sits on the table and you chomp away because they are small and salsa is made of healthy tomatoes. They are just a little
something to tie you over until your dinner comes. Little do you know, this innocent and delicious appetizer has between 400-500 calories a basket. Add in the salsa, while not too significant calorie-wise, sodium wise it brings the whole thing up to about 40% of your Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA ). Bring on the blood pressure!
Unfortunately, most of us are completely in the dark about the nutritional value of our food, eating enough for two or three in one sitting and doing it three times a day. Yes, we all know about obesity in our culture. It might surprise you to learn that a calorie is a measurement of heat, or energy, that the body must burn. Just because you are eating something small in size, does not mean that it does not have a lot of calories. The relationship between actual size of the food and its caloric density are not directly related. Just because it may not LOOK like a lot on your plate doesn’t mean that it is not.
The truth is that most of us don’t need very many calories during the day. Around 1500-2000 for women and 2000-2500 for men is right for most common daily activities. This amounts to a value meal at your favorite fast food restaurant, or three to five well-balanced meals and snacks, with plenty of high quality proteins and veggies. So, basically you get a lot of good stuff or a small amount of bad stuff.
Weighing the differences of fries or chips and salsa reveals that they are pretty much the same thing nutritionally. But… if you choose to follow the ‘whole lotta’ good stuff’ diet, either choice can be a fun and indulgent treat. So grab some salsa or ketchup and have some fun!
Umami mami!