Chips might be commonly available, tasty and inexpensive.

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But the effect they have on your health in the long term might be more dangerous than we can imagine. A few pieces here and there might not do much harm if you are a person who follows a healthy diet most of the time. But you have to make sure you do not consume chips as part of your everyday snack or choose it over other healthy foods.

Here are a few prominent reasons why potato chips are not very good for your health.

1.Cancer risk
Apart from potatoes, there are several ingredients added to potato chips which are part of the process of manufacturing them in large quantities. Food rich in carbohydrates manifests cancer-causing neurotoxic chemical(acrylamide), when they reach high temperatures during the process of cooking like frying, roasting, baking or toasting. This chemical forms when the food turns dry and creates a brownish-yellow surface while being heated. Hence potato chips are a typical example. 

2.High in calories
Potato chips are usually ten pieces per serving which approximate to 145 calories per serving. This is a very high-calorie count. But the fact is that we never stop with one serving either. Once we start eating, we are not able to stop easily. Hence it is advisable to avoid potato chips as a whole. Corn-based chips and tortilla chips can have a similar effect on your body. These chips result in you suffering from cardiac problems like weakening heart and clogged arteries. If you are looking to reduce belly fat, cutting out chips from your diet is very important.

3.High-fat content
They have a higher count of processed saturated fat which is not so good for your health. The next time you pick out a packet of potato chips, check the table of contents and you will be able to see that 20 to 35 percent of the composition of the chip is fat.

4.Too much salt
When we say too much salt we do not mean the salt we add to regular food while cooking is bad for your health. Most of the time the salt we use while cooking every day fits into the recommended quantity of salt consumption. The excess salt comes from consuming processed food. Potato chips are no exception for this case.

5.Added sugar
Chips are usually snacks which are salty or savory. But packed chips contain added sugar which enhances the flavor of the chips as a whole. Chips contain about 3 to 5 percent of added sugar. This is not very good for you.

6.Increased risk of mortality
While this might not be definitive, a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that people who consume chips on a regular basis in the long term have twice the risk mortality while compared to others. The study was conducted across 4400 patients between the ages of 45 and 79 over a period of 8 years.

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