Weight loss surgeon warns about food that looks healthy but isn’t

New year, new pantry?

A new study finds that 19% of American adults plan to eat healthier in 2025. One way to do that is to ditch ultra-processed foods, which are often bursting with calories, sugar, fat and salt.

When looking for better alternatives to cookies, chips and marshmallow cereal, look out for foods that carry a health halo. They look nutritious but aren’t, like sugar-laden yogurt and high-saturated-fat coconut oil.

Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of bariatric surgery at Northern Westchester Hospital, warns against a popular health halo – vegetable chips.

“People think cauliflower is a health food, which if it’s boiled or eaten in a salad, it is,” Roslin told The Post. “But if you make cauliflower fries [or] Cauliflower pizza crust, which is mostly cornstarch and is less beneficial.”

Roslin said processed veggie chips are calorie dense, covered in salt and “not filling.” They are “no better for you than a potato chip”.

He prefers fresh vegetables with hummus and potatoes with skins.

“A potato grows in the ground,” Roslin explained. “It’s healthy, even if it’s mostly starch inside. What makes it less healthy is what you do with it, like making it into a potato chip.”

Toronto-based registered dietitian Abbey Sharp also praises the power of the potato.

Potatoes are a good source of potassium, vitamin C and vitamin B6 and are naturally fat-free, cholesterol-free and sodium-free, Sharp said. They lose their shine when you fry them, salt them or cover them with butter or sour cream.

“Potatoes basically don’t make you gain weight,” Sharp said in a September TikTok.

Sharp, who calls herself a “health halo detective,” is also skeptical of veggie chips. She notes that while vegetable straws look healthier, they are nutritionally similar to potato chips.

If you’re still craving veggie chips, Eat This, Not That! recently ranked 11 brands based on calories, saturated fat and sodium content.

“Some veggie chips do provide additional dietary fiber and vitamins depending on the vegetables used,” registered dietitian Caroline Thomason wrote to the media outlet, “but these foods are not necessarily lower in calories, sodium or fat compared to with traditional potato chips.”