Recently, the Husby and I stumbled upon this bag of potato chips. Remember Utz? I mentioned her in this post. Now we have Grandma Utz's Handcooked chips! Curious as to how different it would taste, we bought it and did the taste test.My verdict: Not so great; its cooked in lard! So that must have been the old-fashioned way of cooking these potato chips, in animal fats. I felt so fat after eating it. The taste of animal fat was quite strong too, not quite like the regular potato chips we usually have.
Which reminded me of this article I read that left warning bells going off in my head! Olestra or also known as Olean have been added to potato chips to allow the makers to claim that they are low-fat or low in calories. In fact, its website claims it has zero cholestrol, calories and fat! What a miracle isn't it? Now as you clap your hands in glee, read on. These additives cause "loose stools" - or a condition known as "anal leakage". GASP! GROSS! I am so freaked out!
This has been known for a few years now, but I have never read of it, just like how there is no vitamin C in Ribena. To top it off, Olestra is also able to dissolve lipid-soluble vitamins like vitamin A, K, E, D. Thus when eating these chips, you lose these vitamins as well. Of course these effects may only be apparent when you eat large portions of these chips, and there is no way I am going to try it to find out. Check out this article: This guy describes in details his misadventure with having eaten too much of those potato chips. In addition, I found it comical of how this has been poked fun of on TV, from the Simpsons to Scrubs (Take a look at the Wikipedia entry at the end).
So where does this leave me? No more potato chips? Let's ask the Magic-8 ball: Can I eat potato chips? Don't count on it! Ha! Even it knows about the dangers of these fried potatoes. You have been warned, now you be the judge!
You know what? I guess I will still eat some, just the regular ones that do not claim to be low-fat (read: a particular brand of chips), or handcooked in lard. Out the window, however, would be my potato chips and ice cream lunches; for starters, those are just plain unhealthy snacking. I do not believe in excessive dieting and cutting out all junk food- what fun is life without some junk! *Explains the gobble pig nickname*
Source: Olestra from Wikipedia
