Why are french fries considered UNhealthy?

I'm just wondering why are french fries considered unhealthy?

For example, after picking up and eating some McCain 5% fat chips (same taste as regular chips, delicious) I checked the label. 180 calories per 100 grammes, no saturated fat and no salt content. The fat is mostly poly, so not unhealthy for you.

I can understand that french fries don't have any vitamins or stuff and as such can't be considered "healthy", however they don't seem to be unhealthy either. I'd say they're neutral, neither good nor bad for you.

Even fast food fries aren't unhealthy, they're just fattening. Healthy eating =/= eating low calorie foods. I'm struggling maintaining weight as it is eating only vegetables and "healthy" food and I'm borderline anorexic at this point.

they're empty calories that have no nutritional content. so the point is if you use up too much of your daily cal requirements with foods that don't offer you any nutrition, you could end up malnourished even if you're reaching your calorie goals.

also depends on the fries. they vary greatly in how they're prepared and what oils they're fried in.

Nothing is unhealthy in moderation.

However they are deep fried and offer very little nutritional value.

Disclaimer: I love french fries.

With that said, unless you're making them yourself, they're usually fried in low quality oil and contain a lot of chemicals and/or non food items. Even if you're making them yourself, they're typically made from white potatoes and mostly nutritionally void (so I consider them neutral in that case but unhealthy from places like fast food joints).

I find that the more whole and natural foods I eat, plus the more I cook my own foods from scratch, the weirder commercial french fries taste. I can't even eat McDonald's fries anymore...they smell amazing but then just taste funny to me now. Never thought I'd say that considering I used to go through a supersize fry by myself as just a small part of a meal...back when supersize was actually supersized.

McCain's seasoned spiral fries, baked in the oven, 3oz. serving.

150 calories 18g carb 7g fat 2g protein 2g fiber

Maybe not the most nutritionally dense food out there, but not nutritionally void. If you like them and they fit your goals, enjoy them. I know I'm going to have some tonight with bacon cheeseburgers.

you can be an "empty calorie" food and still have macros. it's that the carbs are all starchy simple carbs that metabolize as sugar and the fat is mostly omega-6s. the protein is the one redeeming quality, however it's in very small amounts.

by all means have fries every now and again, the won't kill you and they're delicious, but they're not nutritionally beneficial for you in any way.

they are calorie dense ; high in fat and salt.

i really enjoy fries, so i just get them every once in a while. get a small or kid's size when you can. that's what i do, unless the restaurant won't sell me the kid's portion; then i just throw some of them away.

for my fry cravings on other days, i just take barbecue baked lays or low fat chips and put ketchup on them works great.

for the same reason that I don't pour whiskey on cereal....

french fries are great. crisp, oily, salty little buggers dredged through ketchup! Yumm...

that problem is that they lack any real FUEL value to your body.

They can (and should) fit in to your diet but.... Enjoy them (in moderation!)

Best

because theyre deep fried?!

Eating skin-on fried potatoes will up the nutrition factor, but white potatoes are high in fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Folate, Iron, Niacin, etc. etc. etc.

But here's the nutrition data on McDonald's french fries. Note the fiber, protein, vitamin C and iron content. Not to mention the other nutrients that MFP doesn't track, such as Thiamin, B6 and Folate.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fast-foods-generic/8054/2

Just eat in moderation. Anything high in calories should be eaten in moderation when trying to lose weight.

I make homemade ones, parboil them then oven bake them with some seasoning and using a spray oil.

They may be low in nutrition in comparison to other foods, but they are tasty and low calorie when cooked my way and I eat them probably twice a week, sometimes just as a snack, and it hasn't affected my weight loss.

McCain's seasoned spiral fries, baked in the oven, 3oz. serving.

150 calories 18g carb 7g fat 2g protein 2g fiber

Maybe not the most nutritionally dense food out there, but not nutritionally void. If you like them and they fit your goals, enjoy them. I know I'm going to have some tonight with bacon cheeseburgers.

you can be an "empty calorie" food and still have macros. it's that the carbs are all starchy simple carbs that metabolize as sugar and the fat is mostly omega-6s. the protein is the one redeeming quality, however it's in very small amounts.

by all means have fries every now and again, the won't kill you and they're delicious, but they're not nutritionally beneficial for you in any way.

^This

I ordered fries with my tuna yesterday... took one bite and realized they weren't worth it. Probably because they were cold and gross. If I'm going to eat fries they are going to be piping hot and glimmering in oil. ;-)

Good source of potassium, Vitamin C, B6 and iron... or does the potato somehow magically lose this nutritional value when fried?

Because they are fried in dirty oil??? (fast food ones anyway)

Baked fries, especially if you make them, are healthy. Same as eating a potato.

But watch them at resturants.. as they add a lot to them to make them *taste good*

So the basic argument here is that fries have NO nutritional value at all? Really? I get the high fat and sodium, but potatoes somehow magically lose their nutritional value when fried? :noway:

the point is potatoes in general are a simple starch that should be eaten in moderation already, combine that with heat-damaged fats and you've got a food that isn't very nutritionally beneficial.

Here is why French fries are unhealthy:
1) Mcdonalds and other fast food chains lace their fries with HFCS
2) Putting ketchup on them is just more added sugar to the fries
3) If the fries keep the skin of the potatoes on them & if the oil used to fry them is unrefined, expellar pressed (and is using a healthy fat like Olive oil or Coconut oil and avoiding the vegetable oils) then french fries can be healthy
- The skin of the potato is incredible healthy so eat your fries with the skin
http://www.eatright.org/Public/content.aspx?id=6442459089
- Oils need to be unrefined and expellar pressed
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/skinny-on-fats


5 guys, for example, makes french fries with the skin on them. And they do use Peanut oil, which can be healthy except its refined.

So, at home, if you use french fries without any added sugar and fry it with a healthy, unrefined, expeller pressed fat oil, then its possible that french fries can be healthy.

BTW here is a good list of bad and good oils

Keep in mind that if you are counting carbs, a potato is to be avoided.

they are deep fried potatoes (which are already low glycemic) and then drowned in oil. they are greasy with all the nutrition - the little nutrition that was left in it - stripped off. how are they healthy?