How Healthy Is Eating Pretzels?

Pretzels are salty snacks made of wheat. A single-serving bag of hard pretzels has fewer calories and fats than the same amount of potato chips, but they are still high in carbs and sodium.

Are pretzels healthy? Their packaging has a homey design with sheaves of wheat, so they must be healthy, right?

Well, looking a bit closer at these salt-covered snacks, you may be surprised to find out that they might not be as healthy as they seem. In fact, you might be better off skipping the pretzels depending on your health needs. 

Everyone has their favorite type of pretzel: soft and sweet, crunchy and salty, or covered in chocolate. However, not everyone knows exactly what a pretzel really is.

How to make a pretzel. A pretzel starts out as bread dough. This dough contains yeast, water, sugar, salt, and butter (or oil).

Once you prepare the dough, you twist it into the classic pretzel shape. You can bake it like this or dip it in a chemical solution.

The Maillard reaction. Bakers traditionally dip their pretzels in lye before baking. A common substitution for lye is baking soda.

The lye or baking soda solution coats the pretzel and improves the Maillard reaction, which is the chemical process that makes pretzels coppery brown. 

Soft vs. hard pretzels. Hard pretzels have less water and longer baking times, which give them a cracker-like texture. These simple changes in the recipe create an entirely different snack. 

Toppings and condiments. Once you bake the pretzels, you get to the fun part. Pretzels can be sweet, savory, or a mix of both — so you can top your pretzel with almost anything.

Pretzels are a German invention that immigrants brought to the United States in the 1700s. Soft pretzels were a localized specialty in Pennsylvania for many years. 

Bakers grew tired of how quickly soft pretzels went stale, though, so they made hard pretzels. This invention allowed bakers to ship pretzels around the world, leading to their worldwide popularity today.  

Pretzels have many variations that can affect how healthy they are. Consider these factors:

• The type of flour (whole-wheat, enriched, or unenriched)
• The type of oil (butter or margarine)li>
• Seasonings (sugar, cinnamon, or salt)
• Toppings (cheese, icing, or chocolate)

Soft pretzels. Buttered and salted is the basic mode of preparation of a soft pretzel. You can dress it up with plenty of seasonings and toppings, and the basic nutritional facts can help you decide which to use. 

A buttered and salted soft pretzel from your favorite restaurant will typically have about:

• 414 calories
• 9.61 grams of protein
• 4.8 grams of fat
• 83.3 grams of carbohydrates 
• 2.04 grams of fiber
• 0.288 grams of sugar
• 930 milligrams of sodium
• 2.4 milligrams of cholesterol

The two nutrients to keep an eye on when it comes to pretzels are carbs and sodium. One medium soft pretzel has about 30% of your daily carb intake and about 40% of your daily sodium.

On the plus side, if you need a quick boost of protein during the day, a soft pretzel has more protein than a large egg.

Hard pretzels. A 28-gram serving of your favorite plain hard pretzels is typically salted. These hard pretzels have about:

• 108 calories
• 2.8 grams of protein
• 0.82 grams of fat
• 22.5 grams of carbohydrates 
• 0.952 grams of fiber
• 0.619 grams of sugar
• 347 milligrams of sodium
• 0 milligrams of cholesterol

Hard pretzels don’t have as much protein or fiber as soft pretzels, but they also have fewer calories and sodium. 

Pretzels aren’t a miracle food with magical properties, but they are a suitable alternative to other snacks like them. A single-serving bag of hard pretzels has fewer calories and fats than the same amount of potato chips, for instance.

Unfortunately, pretzels have more carbs and twice as much sodium compared to typical salted potato chips, so pretzels may not be the healthier choice depending on your health needs. 

Hard pretzels can, therefore, be a good alternative to chips if you’re lowering your fat or caloric intake. 

Whether you prefer hard or soft pretzels, you’ll need to watch the carbs and sodium. 

Carbohydrates. A carbohydrate is a macronutrient that gives your body energy. Sugars, starches, and fibers are the primary sub-groups of carbs.

The carbs in soft pretzels are almost all fiber and starch. The carbs in hard pretzels are mostly starch, and both are low in sugar. 

You shouldn’t avoid pretzels because of carbs, though, unless you’re trying to decrease the number of carbs in your diet. The carbs in pretzels aren’t bad for you unless eaten in excess. 

Sodium. Too much sodium causes many problems for people. The problems typically start in the kidneys when they struggle to eliminate the excess sodium.

As the excess sodium builds up, the body holds onto water, and you end up with more blood circulating through your body. Too much blood puts pressure on your cardiovascular system and leads to high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. 

Pretzels won’t lead to heart problems right away. However, if you’re likely to get heart troubles, have a history of high blood pressure, or need to watch your sodium intake, you may need to replace pretzels with a lower sodium snack.

Concerned about carbs? Switch to pretzels made with whole grain flour. Whole grain flour has more vitamins than enriched or processed flour.

Enriched flour is mostly made up of starch with vitamins added back in by manufacturers. Pretzels with whole grain flour will have more vitamin B, vitamin E, protein, and fiber.

Cut back on sugary pretzel toppings to avoid excessive carb intake. Chocolate, icing, cinnamon sugar, and honey add unnecessary carbs to your snack.

Concerned about sodium? A salted pretzel is a classic snack, but you may need to switch the salt and cheese for another savory topping. Use your favorite seasoning blends to flavor your pretzels without coating them in salt. 

An unsalted pretzel is a blank canvas for you to experiment with flavors. You can buy unsalted pretzels from the store or make them at home.

Pretzels always seem to be touted as healthier alternatives to chips and other salty snacks. In reality, pretzels can be similarly unhealthy without careful preparation. 

You can treat yourself to a cheese-covered soft pretzel every once in a while, but if you find yourself snacking on pretzels every day, it may help to switch to another crunchy snack.