Are Pretzels Good For You?

Whenever you hear the word pretzels, the only thing that comes to your mind is what to eat with pretzels? This snack can be eaten with a variety of mouthwatering dips like honey mustard and barbecue flavored dip. They are sweetened with a touch a cinnamon to add more flavors to tickle your taste buds. Their sweet and savory taste makes you crave for pretzels. Diet conscious people should, however, keep a distance from this sinful snack because although they are grain based, pretzels have zero nutritional value.

Are Pretzels Good for You in Any Way?

The fact they are low in fats without additional flavors or dips is the only reason that tells you why are pretzels a good snack for school kids. A single serving of pretzels contains only one gram of fat which makes it an easy snack compared to the potato chips which contain 10 grams of fat. Apart from the unsaturated fat, there are no other health benefits of pretzels.

No matter what dips or flavors pretzels are combined with, all are harmful for your health. Due to the high carb content in addition to sodium and calories to add sweet or savory flavors to pretzels, makes it a really unhealthy choice.

Here are three main reasons which will tell you how bad are pretzels for you.

Low in Protein

Pretzels are quite low in protein as a single serving contains only 2.5 grams which only 4 percent of your daily needs. Those who are trying to keep their weight under control should avoid pretzels. High protein content makes you feel full by retaining your food content which keeps the hunger at bay. Any snack like pretzels that is low in fat will make you feel hungry soon after having it.

Low in Complex Carbohydrates and Fiber

Another reason which tells you why are pretzels bad for you is that they have a very low content of complex carbs and fiber which is essential for burning the calories and maintaining a healthy body. Instead, they are loaded with normal carbs which lead to weight gain and other health issues. If you want to stave off hunger between the meals, granola bars, nuts, or trail mixes of your own choice are a better option.

Low in Vitamins and Minerals and High in Sodium

Mostly pretzels lack essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, another thing that makes them really unhealthy is that they are packed with sodium which can go from 285 mg to 485 mg in one serving which makes it 13 to 22 percent of the required daily value. This amount of sodium makes it really a hazard for blood pressure and cholesterol levels. However, some varieties do contain a low value of essential nutrients like thiamin, niacin, folate, and riboflavin.