Why do chips have so many calories

Even the snack bags found at most convenience stores, which we assume are meant to be eaten in one sitting, contain two to three servings. Chips are addictive, so it's very difficult for most people to eat them mindfully, which can result in a huge intake of calories. If you want to eat chips, be aware of your portions. Never open a bag of chips, while mindlessly watching TV. The bag will be empty, and you will have consumed a ton of calories, before you even reach the first commercial break.

These guidelines recommended that fat of all kinds be avoided in order to improve health. Later, we would learn these recommendations were completely incorrect, but this was the beginning of the "fat-free" craze. Suddenly, food companies jumped on the bandwagon, with fat-free desserts of all kinds, fat-free cheese, and skim milk.

It seemed like as long as the food didn't have fat, it was fine to eat as much as you wanted. The problem was that they loaded up these fat-free foods with a ton of sugar, sodium, and chemicals.

To this day, the myth still persists that a fat-free food is healthier than a food that contains fat. But fat actually serves a purpose. It increases satiety, or the feeling of fullness. Eating only fat-free foods will make you incredibly hungry because sugar increases hunger. If a food is supposed to contain fat, such as a dessert or cheese, eat a reasonable portion of the full-fat option and avoid the fat-free alternative. It will contain fewer chemicals, less sodium, and less sugar. It will also make you feel satisfied longer, so you will eat less overall.

Boxed rice or noodles may seem like a quick and convenient way to add a side dish to your meal, but they are less than ideal choices for calories and health. First, although there are exceptions, many are made with white rice or pasta, so they contain little fiber. Eating a food with little to no fiber will just make you hungry shortly after eating.

Fiber helps us feel full and satisfied after meals. Ideally, most grains should provide at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Also, the sodium content is usually incredibly high, especially if it comes with one of those flavor packets. Some varieties have over half your daily sodium requirement in just one serving. Keeping sodium in check can help reduce blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease.

If you want to add a side dish to your meal, stay away from boxed items and look for whole grains instead. Quinoa or brown rice is widely available cooked and frozen, so they can be heated quickly for a healthy weeknight meal.

Before calories were typically posted on menus, I remember being at a coffee shop one afternoon and wanting a little snack from their pastry case. So I ordered what looked like the smallest thing available, a lemon bar.

As I prepared to enjoy my afternoon snack, I decided to look up the calories on this tiny little lemon bar, which I could probably consume in two bites: it was over calories! I was absolutely blown away. The bar with my latte would clock in almost calories, the equivalent of what a whole meal should provide for someone my size.

The pastry case can look very tempting as you stand in line waiting for your coffee. But, almost percent of what is in there is incredibly high in calories, sugar, and fat.

These items will make you hungrier later on and provide almost zero nutrition. Bring your own healthier options from home instead, like a half-sandwich on whole grain bread with almond butter and low sugar jelly. It will curb your sweet craving, complement your coffee, and save you a ton of calories. The foods listed above should be limited in your diet.

But, we all have favorites. I will be honest, I love a good donut and I do eat one without guilt once or twice a month.

Favorite foods should be part of your diet. If you love something that isn't ideal, it's ok to eat it for pleasure sometimes.

Eat This Instead: For a more nutrient-dense alternative that still offers crunch without those empty calories , try air-popped popcorn with your own added herbs and spices or crackers made from whole-wheat with four to five grams of fiber per serving. Not only is soda void of vitamins and minerals and packed with empty calories coming from sugar, but it also contains a ton of ingredients that can do some harm to your body.

Both calorie-containing and zero-calorie these, in particular, may negatively influence feelings of fullness and satiety should be avoided. Also, dark-colored sodas often contain additives like phosphoric acid that can be dangerous to bone health," Smith warns. Drink This Instead: Sometimes that fizzy pop craving just won't go away, though. Instead of soda, experiment with sodium-free, sugar-free sparkling water with either a splash of low- or no-sugar juice, freshly-squeezed juice, or a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon.

If it's the flavor rather than the fizz you're after, Smith also recommends infusing regular water with fruits and vegetables.

Pretzels seem like a relatively harmless snack. They've got the crunch and saltiness that many of us crave, and they're not really full of sugar or harmful artificial ingredients. The problem? They don't fuel your body. If you have fitness or weight loss goals, a bag of pretzels' empty calories aren't going to help you get over the finish line any faster. It seems as though pasta is always condemned to the "diet-don't" list, right? The truth is, it can offer some nutrients if and only if you choose the right kind.

It's also very important to pay close attention to portion size if you're watching your weight. Pair your whole-grain pasta with a healthy pasta sauce to avoid added sugars. Eat This Instead: While we like whole-grain pasta, the healthiest way to get your noodle fix is with substitutes like spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. Both are rich in potassium, as well as vitamins A and C! As a rule of thumb, it's always healthier to choose whole-wheat and whole-grain options over products made with white flour.

To get white flour, wheat grains are heavily refined and processed, stripping food of the fiber that our bodies love so much. Whole-wheat flour is made from the same grains but retains its fiber content because it hasn't undergone that heavy processing.

Getting enough fiber is important in any diet because it helps lower cholesterol, boosts weight loss, and aids waste elimination. Eat This Instead: If you know that quitting white flour foods—bagels, cereal, crackers, baked goods, etc. Different from those cold-pressed green juices that you see popping up everywhere, heat-pasteurized juices aren't as healthy as they may appear. Juices, like orange and cranberry, often have to be heated at very high levels and have to be higher in sugar—many contain added sugar—in order to undergo processing.

Drink This Instead: Try to choose cold-pressed or non-processed juices that contain a higher ratio of vegetables to fruit in order to avoid spikes in blood sugar and reap the most health benefits.

Also, keep in mind that fruit juice can often dismantle weight-loss efforts rather quickly—so don't even bother with a juice cleanse! Yes, wine has some antioxidants—most notably the resveratrol in red wine , which may help prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol the "bad" cholesterol , and prevent blood clots.

But typically, the sweeter the wine, the more calories it contains. Dry wines have about calories per glass, whereas sweet dessert wines have around or more. Three glasses of wine with dinner could easily add up to an extra calories. You'll get some of that resveratrol but not much in the way of nutrition. Now this is really where calories can start adding up.

Though coffee itself has a negligible caloric value, plenty of beverages on your coffee shop's menu can pack a quarter of the calories you'd ordinarily require to meet your energy needs.

A ounce pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, for example, comes in at calories, 14 grams of fat, and 50 grams of sugar. Drink This Instead: Black coffee. Spend some time identifying the notes that float your boat, and you'll soon look at those fatty, sugary, calorically bloated liquid desserts as a thing of your past. We know, we know—biting into a buttery, flaky croissant can be a transcendent experience. Eat too many of them, however, and pretty soon your belly could transcend your belt buckle.

A butter croissant from Starbucks has about calories, more than half of which come from fat. Eat This Instead: Grab some oatmeal. Oats have plenty of fiber and are a perfect breakfast. A serving of Starbucks Classic Oatmeal is just calories on its own. You may find that the accompanying package of dried fruit makes the packet of brown sugar superfluous. We have to wonder—how did these things ever become a breakfast food to begin with? Some of the offerings at Dunkin' Donuts come close to packing calories—and 0 grams of anything nutritious.

Eat This Instead: Satisfy your sweet tooth by making some energy balls to eat with your black coffee. Especially if you happen to eat a big bag every day? Well, sit back and relax—preferably without a bag of chips—as we divulge the hidden truths of what goes on in your body when you eat a bag of potato chips. If you happen to enjoy eating potato chips every day, there's a good chance you just might start packing on the pounds. See, researchers at Deakin University found that those who consume excess salt end up craving and eating more fatty foods overall.

The more salty chips you eat, the more you'll want, and that leads to weight gain. Plus, one Harvard study found that the participants who had potato chips as a part of their diet gained weight each year they were assessed. It's no wonder they're on our list of snacks that are causing you to gain weight. Ever found yourself just mindlessly eating a bag of potato chips just to look down and see there is nothing but crumbs? You've successfully reached the bottom of the bag, rather quickly.

And when you have the bag sitting in front of you, this can be a fairly common occurrence! Well, there is actually a reason why and this all has to do with the "crunch" sound chips make.

One study found that the participants associated a loud crunch sound with the freshness of the food, making it more desirable. Another collection of studies published in the journal Appetite found that participants were more likely to consume more chips if the bag was labeled as "crunchy" and they ate more chips when they could hear the sound of the crunch, compared to when they had headphones on and the sound was blocked out.

If you perceive a food to be fresher, you think it's more desirable, and that can lead you to eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting.

This explains why this can keep happening each time you eat chips, too.