Are Tater Tots Healthy To Eat?
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Tater Tots are a cult-favorite snack item for people of all generations. From breakfast and brunch to the side dish on your dinner plate, it fits perfectly everywhere! Actually, all potato dishes taste amazing! However, potatoes are a major source of carbohydrates. So, the question still stands, are tater tots healthy to eat?
Tater tots are not healthy to eat. The main reason is that they are deep-fried in oil. However, baked tater tots may contain fewer calories.
If you are a big-time potato lover, it might be hard for you to accept this. So, I would like to point out the obvious facts to let you understand if you should eat tater tots. Besides, there are controversies regarding baked and frozen tater tots as well. In this article, I will explain it all. So, to have a brief overview of all these facts, please read the entire article!
Should You Eat Tater Tots?
It is safe to say that tater tots are not healthy for you. So, you shouldn’t eat them on a regular basis and try to avoid them as much as you can. Or you can always replace them with better alternatives.
Tater tots are snack items made of potatoes. These are small balls of grated potatoes deep-fried in oil. Any food item that has been deeply fried is not healthy at all. Besides, tater tots contain a considerable amount of fat and carbohydrates!
The whole of America feeds on junk food! But sadly, junk food has no nutritional value. The main problem with junk food is that it contains a tremendous amount of oil, mainly saturated fat.
Saturated fats are not good for your body as the single carbon-hydrogen bonds in saturated fat are hard to break. They also contain a vast number of harmful and unnecessary calories.
As per calorie points, a serving of 10 pieces of Tater Tots contains about 160-200 calories. All these come from 20g of carbs, 8g of fat, and 2g of protein. The amount of monounsaturated fat is higher as well. Besides, they also contain a huge amount of sodium, about 300 mg, which is another unhealthy ingredient.
Some even say tater tots are better than French fries, as there is a higher amount of fat and calorie content in French fries. French fries also contain excess sodium, which is even more than tater tots. So, if you do not want to consume this extra sodium, you can replace your side of fries with tater tots!
Therefore, calculate your own calories and set your meal according to your needs. Tater tots are great snacks if you can balance this extra calorie with some other food like some fresh green salad. Also, continue doing regular workouts to burn the extra fat!
Are Baked Tater Tots Healthy?
When it comes to calorie values, baked tots are better than deep-fried ones. Even some brands of baked tater tots claim to contain zero fat. So, yes, compared to the ones fried in oil, the baked ones are much healthier!
Some baked tater tots come with cheese fillings. These are more energy-dense. But the classic baked ones with only baked potatoes have fewer calories. In fact, it doesn’t even take much time to prepare baked tater tots!
However, the healthiest tater tots would be cauliflower tater tots. Here, instead of consuming the carbs from potatoes, you replace them with low-calorie cauliflower. And if you are baking them as well, then you are reducing half the calorie amount! But of course, it doesn’t taste as good as the classical potato tater tots!
Besides, if you want to eat a healthy meal, you can prepare your side dish with baked tater tots. Set your plate with some fresh green salad with some low-fat dressing and tofu, a side of baked tater tots, and a dip. Combine this with a glass of wine or just plain water. You will surely enjoy your meal!
When you bake something, you use a lot less oil than when you fry it. Even if it is just potato chips or tater tots, baked ones are obviously better. Here is a quick recipe for baked tater tots. Check this out!
Do Frozen Tater Tots Contain More Calories?
Nowadays, frozen snacks are our go-to choice of meal. But you must understand first if these frozen items are healthy for you or not. Some brands of frozen tater tots are great as they promise to contain fewer calories. However, always check the ingredient list beforehand.
Frozen tater tots can be baked too. Or, if you wish, you can deep fry them. Most brands of frozen tater tots are excellent, considering both taste and nutritional value. If the tots contain cheese or other stuffing, the calorie values may increase slightly. So, pay attention to the contents.
Due to the shortage of time and our busy life schedule, we all prefer to buy frozen packaged goods and then cook them whenever we want! To be fair, no one has that much time to prepare tater tots on their own at home. So, buying frozen tots can be really helpful in this regard when you crave some tater tots!
Also, some brands of frozen tater tots contain fewer calories than the classic ones. They may contain about 130 calories per serving with 1.5 g of fat. So, as you can see, they are much healthier options! The best-frozen tater tots are from Robin’s!
However, there have been reports that frozen potato dishes may not be good for you as they can contain pathogens. Potatoes naturally grow underground. So, they can harbor the soil-borne spores of Bacillus cereus.
Basically, spores are the dormant stages of any organism. Under favorable conditions, such as optimum temperature and climatic conditions, the spores can grow into active pathogens. They multiply and produce deadly toxins. The toxins from bacillus and clostridium can cause botulism, gut problems, etc.
That being said, when you bake or cook the frozen tater tots, the latent spores can germinate and grow into active, multiplying bacteria. Eventually, you may suffer from various gastrointestinal infections and diseases! So, be careful when consuming anything frozen!
Health Effects Of Eating Too Much Tater Tots
Tater tots are wonderful snacks, no doubt about that! But everything needs to be done within a limit. Otherwise, consuming too many tater tots can make you pay the price!
You may have a thousand memories associated with tater tots because this is something that you grew up eating. Potatoes are bites of love! To make any dish better, you just need to add a hint of potato! But if the dish is made of the potato itself, then what more do you need?
However, consuming too many potatoes is not good for you. Firstly, potatoes are the major source of carbohydrates. After rice, potatoes are the richest source of carbs. So, eating a little may overcompensate for your carb requirements. Also, if you consume a lot of carbohydrates, ultimately, they turn into fat and get stored in your body. It is very unhealthy!
Secondly, eating too many oily or fried foods can raise your blood cholesterol levels. Too many fatty foods cause your triglyceride levels to shoot up, and they get stored in your body.
Cholesterol molecules deposit in the blood vessels. This can lead to heart blocks, atheroma, thromboembolism, coronary artery diseases, etc. You can even end up having a heart attack!
Moreover, eating too many fried foods and junk foods can trigger heartburn, GERD, acidity, gastritis, etc. Constant heartburn is very painful. Furthermore, repeated attacks of gastric ulcers can result in intestinal perforation, which is dangerous!
Furthermore, the excess sodium in these foods can be harmful to you. Excess sodium can cause hypertension. So, taking excess salt or sodium-containing foods is never really a good idea!
So, whatever you consume, try to stay within your limits. It is okay to eat tater tots, but not on a regular basis. You must not eat more than necessary, and you must not eat every day. It is fine to have some tater tots once in a while. Also, if you have had some already, try to burn off the excess calories by working out.
Don’t depend only on carbs or protein. Eat a balanced diet that contains all the components: carbs, protein, fat, fiber, vitamins, minerals, micronutrients, etc. And you must exercise regularly and drink plenty of water. Only then can you be in good health!
