Can you eat Kale chips and get the same health benefits as eating fresh kale?
Many of us absolutely love consuming bags of kale chips as snacks, especially with the amount of protein and fiber. But, a lot of us also find it difficult to eat kale in other ways, especially fresh. It's known that the antioxidant does have lots of health benefits such as fiber, iron, protein, vitamin A, vitamin K, great for skin, removes toxins, etc...
Can you still get the same health benefits by eating this in chip form?
Answers ( 1 )
Yes, you can get most of the same health benefits from kale chips as from fresh kale, but it depends how they are prepared. Kale is a great source of fiber, calcium, vitamins A, C, K and B6. It also has protein, various B vitamins, iron and other minerals. And a lot of this nutrition isn't affected by cooking. The main differences are that it loses its water content and may not fill you up as much, which can be a plus or a minus depending on what you're after. However, not all preparation methods are created equal.
Kale chips are usually made by one of three methods: baking, frying, or dehydrating. Both baking and dehydrating are excellent choices for retaining the nutritional value of the kale, while avoiding the addition of things that might skew the nutritional profile. Frying, on the other hand, is usually less optimal (although delicious).
Making the chips by dehydrating requires a food dehydrator and is fairly simple. Most will come with instructions to help you. Baking them doesn't require any special equipment, and is easy to find recipes for online. But the basic process is just baking them for about 10-15 minutes at around 350 degrees. Like with most snacks, how you season them will affect both their taste and how healthy they are.
It's definitely better to make them than to buy them, because then you know exactly what their nutritional profile will be. Many packaged kale chips can be high in undesirable fats, and are often fried. So if you're buying them pre-made, make sure to read the nutrition information.