Here's Why Digestive Biscuits May Not Be As Healthy As You Think

Imagine having a cup of tea without any cookies to accompany it! Feels incomplete but well, times have changed. People are now aware of how unhealthy and fattening cookies can be with all the refined flour, sugar and other fattening ingredients. Most people nowadays, well aware of the need for being fit, have discarded these cookies and instead switched to digestive biscuits believing that they are healthier. But are these digestive biscuits really healthy? Our expert, Rtitka Samaddar, Nutritionist, tell us about it.

What are digestive biscuits?

The term "digestive" in digestive biscuits might make you think that these are cookies that aid digestion. Digestive biscuits are basically baked and made up of whole meal wheat flour and other leavening agents like ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid, vegetable oil, powdered swim milk, baking soda and sugar.

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Digestive biscuits are often considered to be healthy. Generally, 2 digestive biscuits will have somewhere around 150 calories, 6 grams of fat, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein, 1 gram of fibre and 0.1 gram of sodium.

According to Ritika, digestive biscuits are high on fibre and are quite high in terms of fat as well. "So as a consumer, while buying such biscuits, you must read the label and ingredients. You must check the quantity of added sugar, refined flour (maida) and the amount of added fat in these biscuits. Consumers must read about the source of the flour used, whether it is refined or plain flour and then pick one," she explains.

Listed below are the ingredients and their quantities present in a regular digestive biscuit.

1. Sugar

1 digestive biscuit might contains 2 to 3 grams of sugar. It is not as high as regular biscuit, but it is not healthy either. So if you wish to keep your heart safe and healthy, avoid consuming so much sugar.

2. Refined flour

The flour used for making digestive biscuits is semi-refined. So irrespective of whether the biscuit is made from whole wheat or bran flour, it is not healthy if it is refined.

3. Fat

Digestive biscuits contain saturated fats. 1 digestive biscuit might contain somewhere around 3 to 5 grams of fat.

4. Preservatives

Anything which has an artificially created long shelf life must be avoided. Packaged food which has a shelf life longer than a week contains high levels of preservatives in it. These preservatives are synthetic in nature.

5. Sodium content

Digestive biscuits are high in sodium. The content is quite similar to a pack of potato chips. So, digestive biscuits can be just unhealthy as a pack of potato chips.

Healthier alternatives

Sapna Tomar, our clinical nutritionist shares some healthier alternatives to digestive biscuits as a snack:

1. Handful of nuts
2. Raagi based biscuits
3. A seasonal fruit
4. Mixed seeds with dried fruit
5. Makhana
6. Roasted channa

(Ritika Samaddar is the Regional Head of the Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, Max Healthcare)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information​.