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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

Furball · 08/01/2013 13:52

Anon - that is the amount of oil consumed on the crisps over a year

PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 13:54

I think it is insane that Brits raise their children dependent on crisps to the extent that children come to expect to eat them every day as part of a their diet.

Havingkitties · 08/01/2013 13:55

Crisps, yoghurt, penguin, piece of fruit and a sarnie, possibly with a Capri sun (if you were posh) were all we had in our packed lunches every day when we were kids....and look how we turned out!
I was a string bean and a boffin at school, so never did me any harm.

Bring on the packed lunch police with their 'I just pack my DCs fresh flapjacks every day and give them courgette sticks. I simply can't understand why anyone would put a packet of demon crisps in their DCs lunch box every day.'
Crisps are simply awesome.

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2013 13:55

Are we talking a bag of Walkers? We rarely have 'crisps' like that. My two like Pom Bears/Frazzles/Skips.

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2013 13:56

I am waiting for the 'mung bean salad' in the packed lunch people kitties.

Original poster

Badgerwife · 08/01/2013 13:57

I agree with everyone who says that if your diet is generally healthy a small bag of crisps is nothing to worry about.

A lot of my reaction is cultural rather than the result of nutritional research.

OP posts:

badguider · 08/01/2013 13:57

I always have a packet of crisps in a packed lunch if i'm out walking/hiking or on my bike for the day.

I would put a packet in a lunch for a child who i knew was going to do a lot of sport or run about all day, like at summer camp, but not if they were more sedentry.

PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 14:00

If your diet is generally healthy, I would say that a packet of crisps a day is the one item that makes your diet unhealthy.

HoratiaWinwood · 08/01/2013 14:00

I don't think crisps are bad for you precisely but they certainly aren't an everyday food, and I don't put them in lunchboxes.

Apart from anything else, I have it in my head that they're terribly bad for teeth because of the way they get stuck.

MsVestibule · 08/01/2013 14:01

I put 5 crisps in DS(4)'s lunch box but he complains that Libby gets a whole packet with her lunch and why can't he? I'm standing firm, as I know habits can be formed from a very young age.

Although my mum gave me a healthy, balanced diet, no forbidden foods, everything in moderation etc, and I could still eat a whole cake in one go, so sometimes I wonder what the point is .

PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 14:01

badguider, out of interest, why do you think extra fat and salt is ok if your child is running around a lot? Why not an extra banana, or some chocolate? Crisps, which are literally just fat and salt do little to enhance energy and performance, like a banana, or a piece of chocolate, or a cereal bar can do?

Flatbread · 08/01/2013 14:02

Don't think it just a question of calorie count, salt or sugar

It is also about processed and natural foods.

A boiled potato with a touch of butter/olive oil, drizzle of lemon juice, fresh mint and some salt and pepper will be healthier and easier to digest than fried crisps prepared 6 months ago.

Fresh fruit are better than processed fruit juices. Fresh porridge is better than granola bars. Etc.

I can't see a reason to feed anyone crisps or granola bars or the like on a regular basis.

WillSucceed · 08/01/2013 14:03

A lot of my reaction is cultural rather than the result of nutritional research.

Tbh if you had done some nutritional research on crisps you would probably have run a mile away from them....

But as this thread shows, you won't convince English people that crisps aren't that good for your health.

WilsonFrickett · 08/01/2013 14:03

I'm sure I read somewhere if you added a pack of crisps to your lunch every weekday for a year (and made no other changes), you'd have put on a stone by the end of the year. I can't forget that now when I look at the lovely crispies...

Original poster

Badgerwife · 08/01/2013 14:04

I probably wouldn't put crisps in a kid's packed lunch. At the mo, my daughter is deliriously happy if there's leftover sausage and mash or pasta bake for lunch but then she's only 18 months and hoovers any food she can get her hands on so I make the most of it. Whether she'll become more fussy and peer-pressured at school we shall see.

OP posts:

steppemum · 08/01/2013 14:06

wilson - maybe there is some connection to the current obesity epidemic then?

ifancyashandy · 08/01/2013 14:09

Am in my early 40's. I wasn't given Penguins, Capri Sun, crisps or yogurts in my daily packed lunch. Set me up with decent eating habits. Don't eat those things now (apart from natural yogurt).

Flatbread · 08/01/2013 14:14

I am waiting for the 'mung bean salad' in the packed lunch people

Lol, I grew up with mung bean salad in my lunch box. And sprouted beans, no less

Haven't made them for ages and am feeling a real longing now...sprouts, buttered toast and tea.

Sparklingbrook · 08/01/2013 14:16

Yay Flat. i have never eaten a mung bean in my life. Can't eat sprouty things, sprouting potatoes are scary.

PureQuintessence · 08/01/2013 14:17

Well said Flatbread.

Not to mention the effect it has on our bodies, and our brain long term.

I have read so much about diet, about carbohydrates and potatoes lately, but admittedly mostly from a dementia perspective, that I can no longer justify potatoes and sugar in our family diet, other than for very special occasions.

I am not medically trained, but the various pieces of research I have seen point in the direction of potatoes and sugar as the main reasons for dementia. It would seem that potato starch crosses the blood brain barrier. Autopsies done on dementia patients show the same waste products in their brain as you have in potatoes. The biggest potato consuming nations, such as Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Britain and on Gran Canaria (not the rest of Spain) have the highest proportions of dementia cases in the world. It has been linked to potato consumption. In addition, the latest findings I read, suggest calling Alzheimers Diabetes 3 due to the effect of sugar on the brain.

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that fat and sugar is poison. Pure and simple. Obesity, Cancer, Dementia, it is western life style problem. We consume crap, such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, sugary squashes and fizzy drink like every day is our last day. We are entitled to treats.

WillSucceed · 08/01/2013 14:20

Nothing to add to that.

FredFredGeorge · 08/01/2013 14:21

WilsonFrickett No, it would be nearer 9lbs depending on the packet size and fat percentage etc it would need to be one of the big 50g packs every day to get up a stone though. However it's not as simple as that at all, since the body wouldn't leave everything else unchanged in that. In a normal non-overweight person (since current fat levels influence hunger) with a normal insulin response (so no pre-diabetes etc.) then hunger would be modified by the crisps and less would be eaten at a later date.

WillSucceed What nutritional research are you talking about? Potatoes are a complete source of protein, a good source of carbohydrates and other minerals, Vitamin A, E and B12 is all that's missing from being a sole food isn't it? So then it's just the sunflower oil you're saying is bad for you - which it isn't, it's just a source of fat (and adds the missing vitamin E too. High calorie density though, so as noted before it is a food which can easily cause you to overeat. And over consumption of calories is the problem most people have.

If the crisps are high salt versions, then you have the salt contribution, which if you have high blood pressure will increase it further, but in a fit healthy individual will have minimal impact.

Flatbread · 08/01/2013 14:23

I haven't eaten a sprouting potato either

But sprouted mung are yum! Especially the way my mum prepared them, with shallots, tomatoes, cucumber and lemon.

But they take ages to sprout and you have to meal plan and be really organised. Doesn't work for me

Anonymumous · 08/01/2013 14:23

WilsonFrickett you are worrying about nothing. That research says you will put on a stone by the end of the year if you eat a pack of crisps every day of the year ON TOP OF WHAT YOU ARE ALREADY EATING. You could say that about just about anything with calories in it!

If you eat more calories than you burn off, then you will put on weight - so if you eat an extra 120 or so calories a day (of whatever food) that you wouldn't otherwise eat and you don't exercise more to compensate then you will put on weight. The health police are just trying to scare you!

Tuck into those lovely crispies - just go for it!

Lakota · 08/01/2013 14:23

I am eating a packet of Walkers Baked Stars. The label says they constitute 3% of a CHILD's daily fat guideline amount, and 6% of the salt. 2% sugar and 94 cals overall, constituting 5% of their calorie total. I don't think it would be too disastrous for an adult to eat these every day, assuming the rest of their diet was good.

That said, I try to keep it to a couple of packets a week for me, and one for the kids, because they should be considered a treat. A packet of McCoys extra ridgey, or whatever they're called, is probably a different beast.

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