How unhealthy are churros?

Churros aren’t just good because of what they contain, but also because of what they don’t contain: they don’t have any cholesterol, or “bad” fats like trans fats, or sugar (unless we add it afterwards), or any type of additive including colourants, preservatives, etc. When we go to a café and swap churros for a croissant, thinking it’s better for staying in shape, we are committing a serious mistake and if, in addition, we fall into the temptation of adding butter, the calories and cholesterol go through the roof. “Innocent” biscuits have 50% more calories, a third of the proteins and more than double the amount of fat (of which most is saturated). Therefore, they are less healthy than churros. When we feed our children so-called healthy and “modern” breakfast cereals, we are giving them a food which is high in sugar so they are not recommended for children’s diets. In conclusion, let’s enjoy a portion of churros with no regrets, knowing that they aren’t just fantastic, they are also healthy, within a balanced diet.

While eating churros might not be the best way to lose weight, you can still enjoy delicious homemade churros without breaking your diet. You’ll get the same delicious taste with no extra grease. Substitute your cinnamon sugar. Get creative with your churro toppings. A great way to add natural sweetness is to use freeze-dried fruit. You can also substitute sugar with any other sweeteners.

Because churros are more of an occasional treat than a staple of daily eating, nutritionists need not fret too much about all the refined carbohydrates and calories. “If you’re looking for a nutritional powerhouse, this isn’t it,” says Joan Carter, a registered dietitian at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. So how big a dietary detour is that churro? The churro also contains about 9 of the 65 fat grams recommended by the USDA on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. It has nearly 35 of the day’s recommended 300 grams of carbohydrates, which the body breaks down into sugar--and that’s before it’s been rolled in cinnamon-sugar. Not a lot of protein to help build muscle and tissues--just 3.9 grams from the flour and eggs. Carolyn Katzin, a certified nutrition specialist in Brentwood, worries about the effects of reheating the frying oil for batch after batch of churros. Carter says it’s a reasonable amount for a snack splurge: “My goal,” she says, “is 300 calories or less for an indulgence. The average person could neutralize the potential caloric damage of a single churro with a 2.5-mile run. While the churro has little to commend itself nutritionally, Carter says, food is about more than nutrition: “It offers social bonding, cultural identity; it offers fun and pleasure.” So don’t be afraid of churros, she adds. “You will not wake up tomorrow weighing 10 pounds more.”