Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that having a packet of crisps a day is not healthy

263 replies

Badgerwife · 08/01/2013 12:20

or am I being precious?

I was having this discussion after watching Britain's Favourite Supermarket Foods on tv with some friends yesterday, who all thought that having a packet a crisp a day was totally fine and clearly thought I was weird to think that it was totally unhealthy. I'll admit I was appalled surprised but this may be because I was brought up in France where you don't really eat crisps unless you're having a picnic, in fact, I'm not even sure you can buy individual packets. So it was a bit of a culture shock when I first moved to England when I realised it's a staple snack/lunch item.

Even now, I never have crisps in the house - unless I'm pregnant like now and I crave the salt content like crazy and they are moreish and delicious plus it's cheaper than my other craving which is McDonalds and way more shameful to admit to but then I worry about my cholesterol going up and clogged arteries with all the fat.

So AIBU?

OP posts:
Punkatheart · 08/01/2013 12:24

Make sure they are good quality crisps. Less fat, less salt.

It's not ideal but I think people do get hugely hung up on food, not realising that many other foods have larger salt contents, larger fat contents.

Balance with lots of fruit and veg and enjoy your life, exercise....

Congrats on the baby to be! I craved beetroot. Jars and jars of it!

Boomerwang · 08/01/2013 12:24

I'm not sure. If I personally ate a packet a day I'd feel a bit of a pig, but I have no idea if it's actually going to make much of an impact comparable to anything else that is considered unhealthy. Obviously having no crisps at all is healthier, but having a beer a day instead is worse than a packet of crisps over the long term.

Celticlassie · 08/01/2013 12:25

I don't think it's particularly healthy, but I know a lot of people who do it. I suppose everything in moderation.

Fakebook · 08/01/2013 12:25

Yanbu. I lost a lot of weight when I cut crisps out of my diet. That and coke. Now we only buy crisps once every 1-2 months. It's just unnecessary food.

LovesBeingAtHomeForChristmas · 08/01/2013 12:26

Swings and roundavouts

LifeofPo · 08/01/2013 12:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DonderandBlitzen · 08/01/2013 12:29

I saw that and weren't they saying crisps have more potassium than a banana and that potassium lowers blood pressure. Also they said a slice of bread has more salt than a packet of crisps, we just don;t notice it so much in bread as it is hidden inside rather than coating the outside. That family that ate tons of crisps in a year were only getting 10% of their salt intake from crisps. I suppose they are quite high fat which is not good.

Original poster
Badgerwife · 08/01/2013 12:30

Punkatheart craving beetroot is definitely a bit healthier than craving fat and salt!

OP posts:
IwantaPetFox · 08/01/2013 12:32

YANBU I would feel a bit gross if I had crisps every day. But if the rest of your diet throughout the day is very good then it's probably not that bad and nothing to get hung up about.

MargeySimpson · 08/01/2013 12:32

I do weight watchers, and a normal packet of salt & vinegar walkers is about 5 points I think. To put it in perspective two ryvitas are one point. So you could have 10 ryvitas! Or 7 or 8 rice cakes!

MargeySimpson · 08/01/2013 12:33

Me and two of my friends both crazed mcdonalds when we were pregnant! Especially the diet coke! I used to feel so embarassed scoffing chips in there with my big pregnant belly!!!

Original poster
Badgerwife · 08/01/2013 12:35

DonderandBlitzen

But isn't that only true if they buy soup rather than make it from scratch, and buy sliced white bread rather than 'proper bread' ? I agree that ready-made supermarket stuff has a lot of hidden sugars, salts and fats you can't really see and taste.

I wonder if it means that if you go for the supposedly posher healthier vegetable crisps (you know, parsnip crisps and beetroot crisps and whatnot) you are actually making it worse for yourself?

OP posts:
FredFredGeorge · 08/01/2013 12:36

There's nothing unhealthy about a packet of crisps - it's just food. It may be commonly part of an unhealthy diet though.

NameGotLostInCyberspace · 08/01/2013 12:36

I don't think its a big deal in the grand scheme of things. As long as diet consists of all different food groups, a little packet of crisps is not going to cause any harm. dd needs to put weight on so I let her.

PaellaUmbrella · 08/01/2013 12:37

I think it totally depends on the overall diet.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 08/01/2013 12:38

It's not something I would encourage in the DCs because IMO they become addictive, I had them in my packed lunch every day as a child and find them REALLY hard to resist now, I can't keep them in the house or I would just eat them all. We often have a big pack to share (4 of us) with Saturday lunch (sandwiches etc) and we might each have a pack after swimming sometimes or if we're having a picnic but that is enough. I find it hard to not buy them for myself when buying petrol, at the newsagents etc.

PetiteRaleuse · 08/01/2013 12:39

I love crisps and one of France's failings is that there just arn't enough crisps Grin though they are improving...

I would say I eat the equivalent of a packet a day, or every two days. I don't consider my diet to be unhealthy but everything else that I eat is cooked from scratch except for the kitkats . I think a packet of crisps a day is ok as part of an otherwise healthy diet, but a packet of crisps a day washed down with coke, chips, loads of junk food and bad quality ready made stuff would be unhealthy.

And now I want some pickled onion flavoured monster munch, which you definitely can't get in France Angry

EldritchCleavage · 08/01/2013 12:40

I think crisps are for eating occasionally rather than regularly, definitely not every day. They are not a particularly nutritious way of getting calories.

Patchouli · 08/01/2013 12:40

There was a program on tv a while back about the effect on children's health re: the packet a day habit some people have got into with packed lunches.
I wish I could remember more about it now.

ChessieFL · 08/01/2013 12:42

Anyone else craving crisps now?!

Anonymumous · 08/01/2013 12:45

I wouldn't have thought one packet a day was especially unhealthy either though. Personally I love a nice tuna, cheese, tomato and lettuce sandwich, but only if I have a good, spicy bag of Worcester Sauce flavoured crisps to go with it. So what's worse? The crisps together with a vitamin-and-mineral-laden sandwich? Or two crumpets dripping with butter, cheese and Worcester Sauce (which is what I had for breakfast Blush)?

Drinking fruit juice every day is terrible for your teeth. Why pick on crisps and not fruit juice?

SunshineOutdoors · 08/01/2013 12:45

When I was at primary school in the 80s they were standard daily lunchbox fare. Now at the primary school I used to work at they were banned from packed lunches.

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 08/01/2013 12:46

I don't see the problem to be honest.

My DS has a pack in his lunch box every day but he has fruit, yoghurt etc etc. As long as the overall diet is balance there is nothing wrong with a pack a day.

I did try ages ago leacing the crisps out of his lunch box but he said when he opened it, it made him sad!!

I eat a pack of crisps almost every day but I only ever buy the low fat ones anyway. I worry more about salt content than fat for DS but as long as he only has one pack a day it's all good.

SunshineOutdoors · 08/01/2013 12:46

I want a packet of crisps now.

KellyElly · 08/01/2013 12:49

Everything in moderation and that's exactly what one packet is. If you are having a packet of crisps, a bar of chocolate, a piece of cake, lots of cheese and a few glasses of wine all in a day, every day then no. If you eat a healthy well balanced diet there's nothing wrong with having a packet of crisps?!