Using oven ready chips or potato wedges instead of fried chips
Fat - The Basics
“Deep fried chips are in the region of 7-15% fat. Fried chips made from a medium sized potato (180g/6oz) may contain up to 400 calories – a boiled potato of the same size contains about 150 calories”, advises nutritionist Pinal Patel.
“On the other hand, oven ready chips are in the region of 3-5% fat – with a calorie content of about 250kcal per 180g/6oz serving. Oven ready potato wedges contain a similar number of calories to oven chips, sometime less”.
“There are many different types of healthy option oven ready chips, fries, wedges – which are straight cut, crinkle cut, even spiral shaped, so it will be easy to find a shape and size that suits you and the family!”
“Do remember that potatoes are categorised in the starch food group (bread, cereals and grains) because they contain a relatively high proportion of starch and so don’t count towards your vegetable intake”, adds Pinal.
“Potato is not a rich source of vitamin C, but when cooked, weight-for-weight, it can contain the same amount of vitamin C as banana. The vitamin C content of potato diminishes over time. Fresh early crop potatoes contain more vitamin C than potatoes that have been stored for long periods (up to 75% of vitamin C can be lost after 9 months storage)”.
“It’s also worth knowing that most of the beneficial fibre and B vitamins in potato are found in the skin”.
Common Fat Myths and Misconceptions
- “Potato is fattening” – Potato is a moderate calorie starch food. Eating only as many calories from potato as the body needs will not make you put on weight. Adding spreading fat, milk or cream to potato increases its calorie content and will make it more likely that you consume more calories than the body needs – this would be followed by weight gain.
Fat - Tips and Tricks
- As with all meal preparation that involves taking the ingredients out of a large bag, try to adopt the habit of only removing the amount required for the number of portions to be served. This will help prevent the preparation of too many chips, or potato wedges, and reduce the risk of serving yourself too large a portion or being tempted to eat any leftovers.
- Carefully follow the manufacturer’s instructions for oven chips or potato wedges to ensure you achieve a good result.
- Serve a large helping of colourful salad or vegetables with oven chips (or potato wedges) to make the meal look more appetising – this will help you feel more satisfied after the meal as well as filling the plate with lower calorie foods.
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