How can I viscerally convince myself that tortilla chips are unhealthy?

[InquilineKea]

I can still eat half a bag of tortilla chips and feel intensely guilty afterwards..

 

And I just feel horrible today. I should just tell my parents to stop mailing me bags of tortilla chips.. because one moment of weakness, and I can eat half the bag.. It's sickening...

 

Here's the message:

 

 

feeling depressed because i ate half a bag of fucking tortilla chips today

and started googling acrylamide in tortilla chips everywhere

i really just need the self-initiative to tell F to not send me tortilla chips, b/c the health effects of some foods are so intensely negative that i'd pay *not* to eat them

since slowing aging rate is of paramount importance

luckily i didn't eat the first half of today so i didn't exceed my caloric limit

i really can't have tasty food in my place b/c i'm so tempted to eat half a bag of tasty food if it exists... tortilla chips are my biggest weakness

also i have to email garden of eatin' tortilla chips company to ask them what temperature they cook their tortilla chips at, as to further guilt me away from eating tortilla chips, b/c i still can't viscerally convince myself that tortilla chips are unhealthy as fuck

i can do it for rice.. for meat.. for potato chips.. for fries.. even for some types of bread... i can't do it for tortilla chips.. in large part b/c they don't have a high GI...

i can do it for iron-rich food

i also can't do it for fried vegetables

i also can't do it for nuts

 

 

 

[Michael R]

Alex, and all:
 

I should just tell my parents to stop mailing me bags of tortilla chips

Ding ding ding!

Rule #1, 2, and 3 for not eating crap is: don't have it in the house.

[drewab]

Alex, and all:

 

I should just tell my parents to stop mailing me bags of tortilla chips

Ding ding ding!

 

Rule #1, 2, and 3 for not eating crap is: don't have it in the house.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Though my wife brings foods like that into our house, I never partake, ever. I know that if I do it could be a trigger.

 

And because I've been at this for almost 6 years, it's not a big deal anymore. Your brain will eventually change and rewire itself. When packaged junk food comes my way I tend to do one of two things with it. Bring it to work and put it on our lunchroom table where it almost immediately disappears, or put it in the food bank bin at the grocery store when I go.

[drcha]

Chips need not be forbidden, only infrequent. Grain, salt, vegetable oil: really, they are not so terrible.  You are not pigging out on ribeye steaks or ice cream. 

 

Got a friend with a big freezer?  Ask them to store the chips.  Declare a "chip day" once a quarter or so.  Go get all the chips and eat all you want.   After a few chip days you may find that the chips lose their luster, especially because you may not feel that great with the chip hangover the next day, being unaccustomed to eating like that....on the hangover day, if you have leftover chips, you can take the now unappealing, remaining chips to the food bank while telling yourself what a good citizen you are. 

 

Do you want to ask your parents to stop, but don't want to seem unappreciative?  Ask them to send you something else instead.  (Hey mom, can you send me a butternut squash every week?  My grocery does not carry them all the time.)

[Todd Allen]

Most of the vegetable oils that chips are made with have a poor Omega 3 / Omega 6 ratio.  Frying can create high levels of AGEs.  The ground grains, potatoes and starches used in chips are all going to provoke a higher glycemic response and have a lesser nutrient profile than their whole unprocessed counter parts.  The salt is the healthiest ingredient of most chips as it is an essential nutrient though some people get more than they need.

 

Many people believe there are health benefits of both beef and cream but other than food manufacturers I've never heard anyone suggest chips are healthful.

 

 

 

Chips need not be forbidden, only infrequent. Grain, salt, vegetable oil: really, they are not so terrible.  You are not pigging out on ribeye steaks or ice cream. 

[Michael R]

Chips need not be forbidden, only infrequent. Grain, salt, vegetable oil: really, they are not so terrible.  You are not pigging out on ribeye steaks or ice cream.

 

Piling on: chips are unmitigated garbage; ribeye steak, in moderation, is a reasonably healthy food. Even ice cream is at least not fried, and does contain some high-quality protein and (if needed) calcium ...

[drcha]

Well, the question is not really whether they are unhealthy.  It's how you can convince yourself not to eat them.  Reciting facts about how bad they are and beating yourself up about having eaten them does not really work.  

 

Unlike ribeye and ice cream, chips do not contain animal fat. This is why one might consider them a more minor infraction. I do agree that they are garbage.  I just think one could do worse than chips. 

[Todd Allen]

For me discussing what is good and bad about foods is the only thing that works.

 

I used to think chips were relatively benign beyond being a fairly dense form of relatively empty calories and therefore ok to eat in moderation - leading to sometimes eating more than intended,  But for the combination of reasons already stated, plus a desire to limit calories and maximize nutrition, chips are on my DO NOT EAT list.  It's not visceral, just a rationalized decision that this is a food incompatible with my goals.   Chips have many issues and little to no merit, easy decision for someone motivated to eat a more healthy diet.

 

On the other hand I don't see the issue as clear cut regarding animal fats.  There I see trade offs with evidence suggesting they have both issues and merits and my decision of what and how much to eat evolves as my understanding of the pros and cons grows. 

[Todd Allen]

A discussion of the issues of what is wrong with a food can lead to better food choices.  The problems with commercially manufactured chips are common to other manufactured food products - poor primary ingredients, bad additives and damaging processing.  It's not just chips on my DO NOT EAT list, but pretty much all commercially manufactured foods.

 

If I had a strong urge for a chip like product I would make something doing my best to address each of the objectionable issues.  I would consider ingredients I believe are somewhat healthy such as whole grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, herbs and spices, olive oil, coconut oil, etc. and preparation processes that are ok such as sprouting, soaking, mashing, culturing, dehydrating and low temp baking and start experimenting until I came up with something I liked.  Or I might google for recipes and try to find or adapt one to be compatible with my goals.  I've made good crackers and with more experimentation could likely make something more deliicate resembling a chip.

 

Commercial ice cream is also on my DO NOT EAT list but I've come up with numerous things to make and enjoy as cold, sweet, rich desserts using fats such as coconut cream, cocoa butter, nut  butters, egg yolks, and organic grass fed unpasteurized cream or butter, combined with flavoring ingredients such as pureed fruit, undutched cocoa powder, ultra fine ground cofffee beans, pureed mint and stevia leaves, etc.

[Gordo]

Funny how this thread got revived.  Maybe the best answer is a compromise, somewhat healthy alternatives to pure junk food?

For a New Year's Eve party I made these and thought it turned out great:

5 INGREDIENT SWEET POTATO BROWNIES

I used a bit of maple syrup as an alternative to the sugar listed in the ingredients, plus I added a little dark chocolate.  I know many here avoid all non-fruit sweets, but I've been consuming a little maple syrup for a while, I tap the trees and make it myself.  It contains weird phytonutrients not found in any other foods, these have been linked to health benefits:

 

Maple syrup has 'champion food' health benefits

 

Maple Syrup May Protect Brain From Alzheimer’s And Other Neurodegenerative Disease

Researchers found real maple syrup — the kind that comes from the sap of a maple tree — may help prevent two types of proteins found in brain cells from clumping together. When these cellular proteins, beta amyloid and tau peptide, improperly fold and accumulate together they form plaqud in the brain, which is a root cause of Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.

 

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Characterization and Identification of Antioxidant Polyphenols in Maple Syrup

 

Further Investigation into Maple Syrup Yields 3 New Lignans, a New Phenylpropanoid, and 26 Other Phytochemicals

 

In vitro evaluation of phenolic-enriched maple syrup extracts for inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes relevant to type 2 diabetes management

[InquilineKea]

This thread viscerally turned me more against chips, and I'm grateful for it. :) Though it's still hard to viscerally convince myself that BLUE tortilla chips are terrible (gah, they market their healthfulness SO well it's even convincing to me).

 

I told my parents not to send me more chips in the future.

 

Sometimes I do wonder if rice is not as bad as lower-glycemic-index fried foods, if only b/c rice is not fried and is not *that* horrible if consumed in small amounts.