# Junk food or no lunch dilemma

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 11, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170 "2008-01-11T19:09:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170/1 "2008-01-11T19:09:53Z")

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I don’t know if this has a factual answer or not.

Some days, I’m too lazy to make a lunch for work. Usually, I’ll just do without. Sometimes, I’ll buy some junk food (chips or something) from the vending machine.

My question is, which do you think is better for my health? I know skipping meals is not good for your metabolism, but is it any better for me to eat a bag of chips?

For your answers, please try to assume that my only options are to skip lunch or eat a small (50g) bag of Doritos. Thanks.

P.S. The bag of Doritos is 260 calories, 13g fat (1.5g saturated), 360mg sodium, and 32g carbohydrates.

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**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\
**Post date:** [January 11, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170/2 "2008-01-11T19:22:50Z")

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I think it’s better just to skip it. Since high school, I’ve only ever eaten one meal each day (in the evening,) and I am healthy; however, if this leaves you feeling hungry and weak enough that it affects the rest of your day, go ahead and eat the chips. A two-serving back of chips per day isn’t going to hurt you, unless you’re seriously trying to lose weight, in which case it really adds up over the course of a year.

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**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170/3 "2008-01-12T01:36:55Z")

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[QUOTE=MrSquishy]  
P.S. The bag of Doritos is 260 calories, 13g fat (1.5g saturated), 360mg sodium, and 32g carbohydrates.  
[/QUOTE]

I think the answer here will also depend on what would you eat for lunch that you would not call junk food. I don’t think this is such a horrible thing to eat instead of lunch for a lot of people, but if you feel fine without it, then you’re probably better off not eating at all (unless you’re malnourished).

Most people’s lunch is much much worse than that. In a typical sandwich with white bread and mayo, the bread and mayo together probably have more of everything you listed than that bag of Doritos. A bowl of minestrone and a breadstick? Probably same deal.

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**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\
**Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junk-food-or-no-lunch-dilemma/433170/4 "2008-01-12T01:48:39Z")

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Do you eat breakfast?