A few months ago, we posted ​this article​ on our Facebook page: which talked about the virtues of a good chocolate with churros, also referring to the fact that world-renwoned Spanish nutritionists, such as Francisco Grande Covián or Gregorio Varela Mosquera, were fierce advocates of this product, to the point of saying that churros “are a practically perfect food “.

In this entry, we are going to look at the reasons why churros are such a highly recommended product. The ingredients for churros dough are very simple: water, wheat flour and salt, practically the same as normal bread. The flour used for making churros must be special, strong flour, with a high protein content. The oil commonly used for frying in Spain is sunflower or olive oil, both very healthy vegetable oils. As the previous article mentions, frying at high temperatures forms a crust on the surface of the food which presents the absorption of the oil. According to the WHO, cereals should be the main ingredient of our diets, hence their position at the base of the food pyramid.

Churros aren’t just good because of what they contain, but also because of what they don’t contain: they don’t have any cholesterol, or “bad” fats like trans fats, or sugar (unless we add it afterwards), or any type of additive including colourants, preservatives, etc.

But their best virtues can be seen when comparing them with other products. To give you a clearer idea, we have created a comparison table of the most common breakfast products. The data has been taken from the ​​www.alimentos.org.es​ website, except for the data relating to churros, which was created by independent laboratories and the results of which we have in our possession.

The figures speak for themselves. When we go to a café and swap churros for a croissant, thinking it’s better for staying in shape, we are committing a serious mistake and if, in addition, we fall into the temptation of adding butter, the calories and cholesterol go through the roof.
“Innocent” biscuits have 50% more calories, a third of the proteins and more than double the amount of fat (of which most is saturated). Therefore, they are less healthy than churros.

When we feed our children so-called healthy and “modern” breakfast cereals, we are giving them a food which is high in sugar so they are not recommended for children’s diets.

In conclusion, let’s enjoy a portion of churros with no regrets, knowing that they aren’t just fantastic, they are also healthy, within a balanced diet.