I just love how the media reports nutrition stories. It gives new meaning to the term “God is in the details.”

Take the latest story about blue tortilla chips. I’ve read at least three reports that claim these interesting-looking variations on potato chips are actually much healthier than the regular white 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. In general, anything in the plant kingdom that is deeply colored tends to be healthier for you. The deep pigments that make blueberries blue and raspberries red come from plant compounds called anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants that protect the plant (and the people who eat them) from cellular damage done by free radicals. Tortillas are made from corn, which actually comes in several pigmented varieties, including violet, red, black and blue. As you might suspect, those darker varieties contain anthocyanins.

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 compute 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 percent more protein.

So how do you get from that finding to the conclusion that blue tortilla chips are “healthy”? Answer: You don’t, especially if you read the research carefully.

First, they tested the actual tortillas, not the fried chips that are made from them. Second, even though a glycemic index of 86 is 12 percent lower than a glycemic index of 98, it’s still extremely high. For goodness sake, pure glucose is 100! And third, white tortilla chips have all of about 2 grams of protein per ounce. Even if the blue chips had “20 percent 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. If tortilla chips are your favorite snack, you’re probably marginally better off buying the blue ones rather than the white ones.

But a health food? Kid me easy.

[Ed. note: Dr. Bowden is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition and health. He's a board certified nutrition specialist with a Master's degree in psychology. Dr. Bowden is also a life coach, motivational speaker, former personal trainer and author of the award-winning book, Living the Low Carb Life. For more information, click here.]

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