Are Blue Tortilla Chips a Health Food?

I've read at least three reports recently that claim that blue tortilla chips are actually much healthier than the regular white kind of tortilla chips you routinely get in Mexican restaurants. Higher in protein, claimed the stories, and lower in glycemic impact.

Well it's true. But it's a distinction without a difference.

Here's the background. A team of Mexican researchers decided to analyze tortillas made from blue corn and compare them to those made from white. They prepared both kinds, put identical amounts of the two tortillas in test tubes and, by observing the breakdown of the starch by enzymes, were able to predict the glycemic index of the two varieties. They also measured the protein content.

Here's what they found: The white tortillas had a predicted glycemic index of 98. The blue kind had a predicted GI of 86. They also found that the blue tortillas contained 20% more protein.

So how do you get from that finding to the conclusion that blue tortilla chips are "healthy"? Answer: you don't, unless you didn't read the research very carefully.

First of all they tested the actual tortillas, not the fried chips that are made from them. Second of all, even though a glycemic index of 86 is 12 percent lower than a glycemic index of 98, it's still extremely high. By no means is 86 a low glycemic index food. And third of all, white tortilla chips have all of about 2 grams of protein per ounce. Even if the blue chips had "20% more protein" they'd only weigh in at 2.4 gram per ounce, hardly the equivalent of a hunk of salmon.

A fried chip is still a fried chip, and not much of a health bonanza. That said, if tortilla chips are your favorite snack and you're not about to give them up you're probably marginally better off buying the blue ones rather than the white ones, especially if you can get the baked variety.

But a health food? Kid me easy.