by Sey | 5 Dec 2025 | Functional Nutrition
Let’s be honest: crisps have a reputation problem. They’re the snack we love but feel guilty about, the treat we hide in our desk drawers, the “bad choice” we make when we’re stressed. But are crisps really the villain we’ve made them out to be?
The answer isn’t as simple as yes or no. It’s about what’s actually inside the bag.
The Traditional Crisp: What You’re Really Eating
Pick up a standard bag of crisps and you’re looking at something pretty straightforward: potatoes, oil, and salt. A typical 40g serving contains around 5-7g of fat, 20-25g of carbs, and about 2g of protein. Not exactly a nutritional powerhouse, but not poison either.
The real issue? Most traditional crisps are:
- Deep-fried (hello, excess oil)
- Low in protein and fiber (no staying power)
- Easy to overeat (we’ve all finished a “sharing” bag alone)
They’re not inherently evil. They’re just… empty. They satisfy a craving for five minutes, then leave you hungry and reaching for more.
What Makes a Crisp “Better”?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Not all crisps are created equal, and the new generation of snacks is changing the game. The difference comes down to three things:
1. How it’s made
Baking instead of frying cuts down on unnecessary fat while keeping that satisfying crunch. It’s a small change that makes a real difference.
2. What it’s made from
This is the big one. Swap out regular potatoes for protein-rich ingredients like mycoprotein, chickpeas, or lentils, and suddenly you’re not just snacking – you’re actually fueling your body. Mycoprotein, for example, is a complete protein that’s sustainable and packed with fiber.
3. What’s added (or not added)
More fiber, meaningful protein, less salt. Simple upgrades that transform a guilty pleasure into something you can feel good about.
Let’s Talk Numbers: A Real Comparison
Take a 40g serving – the perfect snack size. Here’s what you might find:
Traditional Crisp:
- 2g protein
- 1-2g fiber
- 10-12g fat
- 200+ calories of… not much
Next-Gen Protein Crisp (like Forma):
- 9-10g protein (that’s real fuel)
- 4-5g fiber (keeps you satisfied)
- 6-8g fat (balanced, not excessive)
- 120-130 calories that actually work for you
The difference? One leaves you reaching for another snack in an hour. The other keeps you going.
by Sey | 5 Dec 2025 | Functional Nutrition
Ever stand in the snack aisle, completely overwhelmed by packages screaming “natural” and “organic” at you? Yeah, us too.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: those buzzwords mean almost nothing. A bag of crisps can be organic and still be terrible for you. It can be gluten-free and loaded with junk. The real story isn’t on the front of the package—it’s hiding in that tiny ingredient list on the back.
Once you know what you’re actually looking for, the whole thing gets way less confusing. Promise.
What Actually Matters in Your Snack
Real Protein That Does Something
Look, not all protein is created equal. You want to see things like mycoprotein, chickpea flour, lentils, nuts—stuff that actually came from food, not a lab.
Why does this matter? Because protein isn’t just for gym people. It’s what keeps you from being hungry again thirty minutes after you eat. It steadies your energy instead of sending you on that awful spike-and-crash rollercoaster. When we were developing our crisps, we knew we wanted at least 9-10g of protein per serving—enough to actually make a difference in how you feel.
Watch out for “protein isolate” at the top of the ingredient list. That usually means they dumped some powder in there and called it a day.
Fiber That Comes From Actual Plants
Fiber is one of those things everyone knows they should eat more of, but nobody really gets excited about. We get it. But here’s why it matters: it’s literally what keeps you full and your gut happy.
The best fiber comes from whole grains, seeds, vegetables—things that were alive before they ended up in your snack. We pack about 4-5g of fiber into our crisps, which happens naturally when you use mycoprotein. It’s built into the ingredient itself.
Some brands just sprinkle synthetic fiber in at the end. Not evil, just not the same. If you see fiber on the label but can’t find any actual plants or grains in the ingredients, that’s what’s happening.
Fats You’ve Actually Heard Of
Fat got such a bad reputation in the 90s, and honestly, we’re all still recovering from that trauma. The truth? Your body needs fat. Your brain runs on it.
What matters is where it comes from. Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil—things you’d cook with at home. When you see vague “vegetable oil” or palm oil, that’s a red flag. We use oils we’d actually use in our own kitchens, which seems obvious but apparently isn’t standard practice.
Our 40g serving has 6-8g of fat. Enough to keep you satisfied, not so much that you feel gross after.
Seasonings You Can Pronounce
This one’s simple: if it sounds like something from a chemistry textbook, you probably don’t need to be eating it regularly.
Sea salt? Great. Paprika? Love it. Monosodium glutamate? Maltodextrin? Things ending in numbers like Yellow 5? Hard pass.
When we season our crisps, we use the same spices you’d find in your kitchen. Nothing fancy, nothing weird. Just real flavor from real food.
Ingredient Lists That Make Sense
Pick up a snack. If the ingredient list is longer than a CVS receipt and you need Google to understand half of it, put it back.
Good food doesn’t need forty ingredients. When companies use that many, they’re usually hiding something—making cheap ingredients taste better, extending shelf life forever, or covering up the fact that there’s not much real food in there.
Our ingredient list is short. Mycoprotein, oils, seasonings. That’s basically it. Because that’s all you need.
What to Avoid (The Stuff That’s Just Not Worth It)
Sugar Hiding Under Different Names
Corn syrup, dextrose, maltose, “cane juice,” agave nectar—these are all just sugar pretending to be something fancier. And the worst part? They sneak it into savory snacks where it has no business being.
Sugar in chips is wild to us. Why is it there? To make you crave more. That’s it. We don’t put sugar in our crisps because they’re not supposed to be sweet.
Artificial Colors
Does your food need to be neon orange? Does it need to glow? The answer is no.
Artificial dyes exist for one reason: to make bad food look good. They do nothing for nutrition and some of them are linked to hyperactivity in kids. Our crisps look like the ingredients they’re made from. Turns out, that’s enough.
Preservatives You Can’t Say Out Loud
BHA, BHT, TBHQ, sodium benzoate—these extend shelf life, which sounds practical until you realize good quality food doesn’t need to last until 2050.
We bake our crisps with ingredients that naturally stay fresh. We’re not trying to make them survive the apocalypse. Just long enough to get from our kitchen to yours and taste great when you eat them.
Way Too Much Salt
Some snacks are so salty they make your mouth feel like the Sahara. That’s not an accident—salt masks poor quality ingredients and gets you hooked.
We use salt, obviously. But just enough to bring out the flavor, not so much that it’s all you can taste. Your blood pressure will thank you.
Starch Masquerading as Food
If the first ingredient is corn starch, potato starch, or tapioca starch, you’re basically eating air that pretends to be filling. These break down into sugar fast, spike your energy, then drop you harder than a bad relationship.
In our crisps, mycoprotein comes first. Because protein and fiber keep you going, starch just keeps you snacking.
How to Actually Choose a Good Snack
Next time you’re shopping, flip the package over and ask yourself:
Can I see where the protein comes from? Is there fiber from real food? Are the fats normal oils I’ve heard of? Do I recognize the seasonings? Is this list reasonable or insane?
If most of those answers are no, keep looking.
We made Forma because we were tired of choosing between snacks that taste good and snacks that make us feel good. Turns out, you can have both. You just need real ingredients doing real work.
No mysteries. No chemicals with numbers. No wondering what you just ate.
Just a crisp that tastes great and actually keeps you satisfied until your next meal. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
by Sey | 5 Dec 2025 | Functional Nutrition
Let’s talk about something nobody wants to talk about at parties: fiber.
Not exactly sexy, right? It doesn’t have the cool factor of protein or the comeback story of fat. But here’s what nobody tells you: fiber is probably the most underrated nutrient when it comes to how you actually feel day-to-day.
That 3pm energy crash? The constant snacking because you’re never quite satisfied? The bloating that makes you want to live in sweatpants? A lot of that comes down to not getting enough fiber. And most of us aren’t even close.
Why Fiber Actually Matters (Beyond What Your Doctor Says)
Fiber does two things that change everything about how your body handles food.
First, it slows down digestion. That might sound bad, but it’s actually brilliant. When food moves through you slower, your blood sugar stays steady instead of spiking and crashing. No more energy rollercoaster. No more being ravenous an hour after eating.
Second, it feeds the good bacteria in your gut. And those little guys? They run the show. They affect your mood, your immune system, your energy levels, even your skin. When they’re happy, you’re happy. When they’re starving because you’re eating nothing but refined carbs, everything feels off.
Most people need about 25-30g of fiber per day. Most people get about half that. The gap shows up in ways you might not even connect—constant hunger, afternoon crashes, feeling foggy, digestive issues that just seem normal now.
The Problem With Most Snacks
Here’s the issue: the snacks most people reach for have almost no fiber at all.
Regular crisps? Maybe 1-2g per bag if you’re lucky. Pretzels? Even worse. Crackers, cookies, most granola bars—they’re all the same story. Lots of refined carbs that your body burns through fast, leaving you hungry again before you’ve even finished your meeting.
It’s not that these snacks are evil. They’re just not built to keep you going. They’re designed to taste good and disappear fast, which is great for the company selling them but terrible for your energy levels.
The snacks that do have fiber are usually the ones nobody wants to eat. Dry rice cakes. Sad carrot sticks. Things that feel like punishment, not pleasure.
What Fiber Actually Does For Your Energy
When you eat something with solid fiber—let’s say 4-5g or more—your body has to work for it. The fiber slows everything down, which means:
The carbs get released slowly instead of all at once. Your blood sugar rises gently and stays stable. Your brain gets steady fuel instead of a quick hit followed by a crash. You feel satisfied for hours, not minutes.
It’s the difference between throwing paper on a fire (burns hot and fast) versus putting on a proper log (burns steady and long). Fiber is the log.
This is why people who eat more fiber tend to have more consistent energy throughout the day. Not because fiber itself gives you energy—it doesn’t have calories—but because it changes how your body processes everything else.
The Gut Connection Nobody Talks About
Your gut bacteria are basically tiny workers that break down fiber and turn it into compounds that benefit your entire body. Some of these compounds reduce inflammation. Some improve your mood. Some help regulate your appetite.
When you’re not feeding these bacteria enough fiber, they literally starve. And when they’re struggling, you feel it—even if you don’t realize that’s what’s happening.
More fiber means a healthier gut microbiome. A healthier gut microbiome means better digestion, less bloating, more consistent bathroom habits (yeah, we said it), and often better mental clarity.
It’s all connected. The snacks you choose matter more than you think.
What to Look For in a Fiber-Rich Snack
Not all fiber is created equal, and not all high-fiber snacks are actually good.
You want fiber that comes from whole food sources—whole grains, seeds, legumes, vegetables, or ingredients like mycoprotein that are naturally fiber-rich. This is the fiber your body recognizes and your gut bacteria actually want.
A good fiber-rich snack should have at least 3-4g of fiber per serving. Bonus points if it also has protein and healthy fats, because that combo is what really keeps you satisfied.
Avoid snacks where fiber has been added synthetically. They’re not terrible, but your body doesn’t process them the same way. You’ll see this when the ingredient list shows fiber but there’s no obvious whole food source for it.
When we were figuring out what to put in Forma, this was one of the biggest priorities. We wanted real fiber from real ingredients—the kind that actually does something for your gut and your energy. Mycoprotein gave us that naturally, along with protein, which meant we didn’t have to add synthetic fiber or protein powder. It’s all built in.
Real Talk: How This Changes Your Day
Let’s get practical. Imagine you’re at work, it’s 3pm, and you’re fading. You have two options sitting on your desk.
Option one: regular crisps. You eat them, they taste great, you feel better for about fifteen minutes. Then you’re hungry again and also somehow more tired. By 4pm you’re either raiding the vending machine or counting down the minutes until you can leave.
Option two: a snack with actual fiber and protein—something like our crisps, which pack 4-5g of fiber and 9-10g of protein in a 40g serving. You eat them, they taste great, and then… you just keep working. No crash. No second snack. No fighting with your own energy levels.
That’s what fiber does. It’s not dramatic. It’s just steady.
Making the Switch Without Hating Your Life
You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. Small changes add up.
Swap one of your daily snacks for something with real fiber. Check the back of the package—look for whole food sources and at least 3-4g per serving. If you’re getting that, you’re on the right track.
Pay attention to how you feel an hour later. Do you need another snack? Are you tired? Or are you actually fine?
by Sey | 5 Dec 2025 | Functional Nutrition
Look, we’re not here to trash regular crisps. They’ve been around forever, people love them, and there’s a reason for that—they taste good and they’re satisfying in the moment.
But here’s the truth: traditional crisps were never designed to actually fuel you. They were designed to taste great, be cheap to make, and keep you coming back for more. Mission accomplished on all three, honestly.
We wanted to make something different. Not a health food that tastes like cardboard. Not a “better-for-you” snack that makes you miss the real thing. Just a crisp that actually works with your body instead of against it.
The Big Difference: What They’re Made From
Traditional crisps start with potatoes or corn, get sliced thin, and take a bath in hot oil. That’s it. That’s the recipe that’s worked for decades.
The problem? Potatoes and corn are mostly starch and water. After frying, you’re left with something that’s basically carbs, fat, and salt. A 40g serving of regular crisps gives you about 2g of protein, maybe 1-2g of fiber if you’re lucky, and 10-12g of fat from all that oil.
Your body burns through that fast. The starch breaks down into sugar quickly, your blood sugar spikes, you get a little energy boost, and then—crash. You’re hungry again, maybe even more tired than before.
We built Forma around mycoprotein. It’s made from fungi (before you make a face, mushrooms are fungi too, and you eat those). The difference is massive: mycoprotein is naturally high in protein and fiber. It’s a complete protein, meaning it has all the amino acids your body needs.
So instead of starting with empty starch, we’re starting with something that’s actually nutritious from the ground up. That changes everything else that follows.
How They’re Cooked Matters More Than You Think
Deep frying is fast and it tastes amazing. That’s why everyone does it. But it also means your crisps are soaking up oil like a sponge, which is why traditional crisps can have 30-40% fat by weight.
We bake ours. Not because we’re trying to be virtuous, but because it means we can control exactly how much fat ends up in each crisp. Our 40g serving has 6-8g of fat—enough to taste good and keep you satisfied, not so much that you feel heavy after.
Baking also means we can use better oils. We’re not dunking things in whatever cheap vegetable oil is available. We use oils you’d actually cook with at home, which makes a difference in how your body processes them.
The Protein and Fiber Game-Changer
Here’s where things get interesting. Traditional crisps have barely any protein—usually around 2g per serving. That’s not enough to do anything useful for your body.
Forma has 9-10g of protein in a 40g serving. That’s not a tiny boost, that’s a meaningful amount. It’s enough to actually keep you full, stabilize your blood sugar, and give your body something to work with.
The fiber difference is just as stark. Regular crisps? Maybe 1-2g if you’re lucky. Ours? 4-5g per serving, all from the mycoprotein and whole food ingredients we use.
That combination—protein plus fiber—is what keeps you satisfied for hours instead of minutes. It’s why you can eat a bag of Forma at 3pm and not need another snack before dinner. With regular crisps, you’re usually hunting for something else within the hour.
What This Actually Means For Your Day
Let’s get real about how this plays out in actual life.
You’re at your desk, it’s mid-afternoon, and you need something. You grab regular crisps. They taste great, you crush the whole bag, and for about ten minutes you feel good. Then your energy dips, you’re somehow hungrier than before, and you’re eyeing the vending machine again.
Same scenario, but you grab Forma instead. They taste great (we made sure of that), you eat them, and then… you just keep working. No crash. No immediate need for a second snack. You’re actually satisfied.
That’s not magic. That’s just what happens when you give your body protein and fiber instead of just refined carbs and oil.
But Do They Actually Taste Good?
This is the question everyone has, and it’s fair. Because what’s the point of “better nutrition” if you’re forcing yourself to eat something you don’t enjoy?
We spent a lot of time on this. The texture had to be right—that satisfying crunch that makes crisps, well, crisps. The flavors had to be bold enough to compete with what you’re used to. The satisfaction factor had to be there.
Traditional crisps have had decades to perfect their formula. We had to match that while using completely different ingredients and a different cooking method. It took time, a lot of testing, and probably too many batches that didn’t quite work.
But we got there. Because at the end of the day, nutrition doesn’t matter if you don’t want to eat it.
The Honest Answer
Are Forma crisps “better” than traditional crisps? Depends on what you mean by better.
If you’re looking for the cheapest option and you don’t care what happens to your energy levels after, traditional crisps are fine. If you eat them occasionally and they bring you joy, keep doing that. Life’s too short to stress about every snack.
But if you’re someone who snacks regularly—and most of us are—and you’re tired of the crash, the constant hunger, the feeling like your snacks are working against you instead of for you, then yeah, Forma is better.
More protein. More fiber. Baked instead of fried. Real ingredients you can pronounce. And most importantly, they actually keep you going instead of leaving you reaching for another snack twenty minutes later.
We’re not trying to replace every crisp you ever eat. We’re just offering an option that does more than fill space. One that tastes great and actually fuels you.
That’s the difference. And once you feel it, it’s hard to go back.
by Sey | 5 Dec 2025 | Functional Nutrition
Ever notice how you can demolish a bag of crisps and be hungry again thirty minutes later? Or how sometimes you eat what feels like a reasonable snack and you’re fine for hours?
That difference isn’t random. And it’s not about willpower or portion sizes. It’s about protein.
Most people know protein is important for building muscle or whatever gym people talk about. But here’s what matters for the rest of us: protein is the single most important factor in whether a snack actually satisfies you or just makes you want to eat more.
What Protein Actually Does In Your Body
When you eat protein, your body has to work harder to break it down compared to carbs or fat. This isn’t a bad thing—it’s actually brilliant.
That extra work means digestion slows down. Slower digestion means the energy from your food gets released gradually instead of all at once. Your blood sugar stays stable. You don’t get that spike and crash that leaves you shaky and starving an hour later.
But there’s more happening behind the scenes. Protein triggers the release of hormones that tell your brain “okay, we’re good, we’ve had enough.” It literally sends satiety signals that other nutrients don’t send as strongly.
It also affects ghrelin, which is basically your hunger hormone. When you eat protein, ghrelin levels drop and stay lower for longer. Translation: you stop feeling hungry and you stay not-hungry for hours.
Carbs and fats don’t do this nearly as well. That’s why you can eat a massive bowl of pasta and be hungry again quickly, but a meal with solid protein keeps you going.
The Snacking Problem
Here’s where most snacks fail spectacularly: they have almost no protein.
A typical granola bar? Maybe 2-3g of protein, if that. Regular crisps? About the same. Pretzels, crackers, most cookies, even those “healthy” rice cakes—they’re all built around carbs with barely any protein to back them up.
Your body burns through these fast. You eat them, you feel satisfied for a moment, and then your blood sugar drops and you’re hunting for food again. It’s not a coincidence that you can eat snack after snack and never quite feel satisfied. The snacks literally aren’t designed to satisfy you.
The snack industry figured out a long time ago that if they make products that leave you wanting more, you’ll buy more. It’s not evil, it’s just business. But it does mean most snacks work against your body’s natural hunger signals instead of with them.
How Much Protein Actually Makes a Difference
Not all “high protein” snacks are created equal. Some companies slap “protein” on the package and give you 3g, which is basically nothing.
For a snack to actually keep you full, you want at least 7-10g of protein. That’s the threshold where you start seeing real benefits—stable energy, reduced hunger, actual satisfaction that lasts.
Less than that and you might as well be eating regular snacks. The protein amount is too small to trigger those satiety hormones or slow down digestion enough to matter.
More than 15-20g in a single snack and you’re entering meal-replacement territory, which is fine if that’s what you want, but probably overkill if you’re just trying to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner.
The sweet spot for most people is that 8-10g range. Enough to work, not so much that it feels heavy.
The Quality of Protein Matters Too
Here’s something most people don’t realize: not all protein is the same.
Complete proteins have all nine essential amino acids your body needs. These come from animal sources, or from plant sources like soy, quinoa, and mycoprotein. Your body can use these efficiently.
Incomplete proteins are missing one or more of those amino acids. They’re not useless, but they’re not as effective at keeping you satisfied or supporting your body’s functions.
When you’re choosing a high-protein snack, it’s worth checking where that protein comes from. “Protein blend” or “protein isolate” often means heavily processed powder. Whole food sources—nuts, seeds, legumes, mycoprotein—are going to serve you better.
We use mycoprotein in Forma specifically because it’s a complete protein that comes from a whole food source. Nine grams per serving isn’t just a number on the package—it’s protein your body actually recognizes and uses.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Let’s say it’s 3pm. You had lunch four hours ago, dinner isn’t for another three hours, and you’re starting to fade. You need something.
You could grab a regular snack—something with 2-3g of protein, mostly carbs. It’ll taste good, you’ll feel better briefly, and then you’ll be right back where you started in twenty minutes. Maybe you grab a second snack. Maybe a third. You’re spending the whole afternoon fighting hunger.
Or you could grab something with actual protein—8-10g or more. You eat it, and then you’re just… done. You’re not thinking about food again. You’re not fighting cravings. You make it to dinner easily, no extra snacks needed.
Over a week, a month, a year, that adds up. Less constant snacking means less constant eating means your body isn’t on a perpetual blood sugar rollercoaster. You feel more stable, less obsessed with food, more in control.
The Energy Connection
People talk about high-protein snacks keeping you full, but they don’t always mention the energy part. The two are connected.
When your blood sugar crashes—which is what happens after eating low-protein, high-carb snacks—you feel tired. Your brain runs on glucose, and when levels drop suddenly, your brain gets sluggish. You feel foggy, distracted, irritable.
Protein prevents that crash. By slowing down digestion and keeping blood sugar stable, it keeps your energy stable too. You don’t get that afternoon wall that makes you want to nap under your desk.
This is why people who switch to higher-protein snacks often report feeling more alert in the afternoon, even though they’re eating the same number of calories. It’s not about eating more, it’s about eating smarter.
Making the Switch
You don’t need to overhaul your entire diet. Start with one snack a day.
Whatever you normally reach for when you’re hungry between meals, swap it for something with at least 8g of protein from a real food source. Try it for a week and pay attention to how you feel.
Do you need a second snack? Are you fighting hunger all afternoon? Or are you actually satisfied until your next meal?
Your body will tell you pretty quickly whether the protein is working. And once you feel the difference—once you realize you can go hours without thinking about food—it becomes an easy choice.
Protein isn’t magic. It’s just how your body is designed to work. Give it what it needs, and suddenly everything gets easier.
