Is eating a soup that is 50% less sodium healthier that eating baked chips?

Answer by  catman529 (809)

It depends on what the soup is made out of. There could be some unhealthy ingredients (additives, preservatives, etc) in the soup that you might not even think of, which are masked by the advertised "healthy" ingredients. The baked chips are amazingly good, but aren't all that nutritious.

Answer by  John (9008)

The only way to know for sure is to check the labels. However, almost any chip, baked or not, is likely to be full of carbohydrates and carry little, if any, nutritional value. Soup is much more likely to provide nutrients that your body needs. Baked chips also tend to have a lot of sodium.

Answer by  cbdave (124)

Most people do not need to worry about salt intake. So, unless you have been put on a reduced sodium diet, the fat in chips is much worse for you than the salt in soup. Consequently, substituting low-sodium soup for regular soup is NOT healthier than substituting baked for fried chips.

Answer by  amiv (249)

Reduced-sodium soup is probably healthier because vegetable soup, for example, has nutritional value, while potato chips have virtually none. If you are concerned about sodium content, read the labels to find out how much sodium is an a serving you are likely to eat. Some soups can be high in fat, though, so check the label for that, too.

Answer by  jsreyher (49)

It all depends on the final amount of sodium. The oringinal soup may have had 100mg of Sodium so the reduced soup would only have 50mg of Sodium. Compared to chips with 25mg of Sodium the chips would be better. But the vitamins and fiber in the soup may outweigh the sodium differences.