News For
SWIM
PARENTS
Published by The American Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21 Ave., Suite 200
Fort Lauderdale FL 33309
___________________________________________________________________
Fast Food
How To Lift The Guise On Healthier Choices
Reprinted from Mayo Clinic Nutrition
Letter with permission
of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education
and Research,
Rochester, Minnesota 55905
By changing menus and methods of cooking, fast-food restaurants are
making it easier for you to eat more healthfully.
But don't be fooled by products that sound healthy.
Here are our suggestions for how you truly can trim calories and fat:
n Be salad savvy -- Avoid the mistake of thinking "salad" is
synonymous with "diet food." Salads
can be sneaky about fat and calories.
The taco salads offered at Wend's and Jack In The Box each deliver
500-plus calories, more than half of which come from fat.
The meat and cheese in chef salads invariably overpower the vegetables to
increase fat. Chicken and seafood
salads usually are lower in fat and calories, averaging less than 200 calories.
It's the dressings that provide the crowning touch.
They can add as much as 400 calories to any salad.
Watch out for packaged dressings that contain more than one serving.
The calories and other nutrients are given for a one-half ounce
serving, yet some packages hold up to 2.5 ounces.
Ask for reduced or low-calorie salad dressing.
n Choose chicken carefully -- Chicken may be naturally lower in fat
than hamburger, but when breaded and fried, it loses its nutritional edge.
At 688 calories and 40 grams of fat, Burger King's Chicken Specialty has
100 more calories and 20 percent more fat than McDonald's Big Mac.
Chicken chunks, strips and "stix" have fewer calories than chicken
sandwiches, but still carry a heavy load of fat.
The leanest chicken sandwich we found is Jack In The Box Chicken
Fajita Pita for 292 calories and 8 grams of fat -- if you skip the guacamole.
n Be suspicious of specialty sandwiches -- Even non-fried sandwiches
made with lean turkey or ham can be deceiving.
Hardee's Turkey Club packs more calories and as much fat as McDonald's
Quarter Pounder. General clues to
keep in mind when deciding about this type of sandwich are its size and the
amount of cheese, mayonnaise or special sauces.
n Order burgers plain and non-imposing -- You know you're headed for
calories and fat if you order a burger billed "jumbo," "ultimate," "double" or
"deluxe." You may have to search the
menu board a bit, but all major franchises offer a plain hamburger for under 300
calories. At Hardee's and Roy
Rogers, the roast beef sandwich is one of the leanest items you can order.
n Don't read too much into the hype about healthier fat -- Switching
from animal to vegetable fats is one step to lowered dietary cholesterol and
saturated fat. But it doesn't
transform fried foods into healthy options.
Large orders of McDonald's french fries (cooked in an animal/vegetable
blend) and Hardee's french fries (cooked in vegetable oil) have about 20 grams
of total fat. Hardee's fries have no
cholesterol and a bit less saturated fat.
But the key to your heart health is trimming total fat, and all fried
fast foods still fail to do that.
n You make the call -- Fast food has come a long way since the days
of only burgers, fries and shakes.
More food options can make it easier for you to elude excess fat and calories
for speed and convenience.
Nevertheless, it all comes down to what you say when the person at the counter
asks, "May I take your order?"
Here are the leanest and fattest fast
foods you can eat
We* reviewed products offered at six popular fast-food franchises.
In terms of fat and calories, here are the best and worst choices you can
make:
Best Picks
Calories
Fat(grams)
Burger King Chicken Tenders (6 pieces)
204
10
Hardee's Chicken Stix (6 pieces)
234
10
Jack In The Box Chicken Fajita Pita
292
8
McDonald's Hamburger
257
10
Roy Rogers Roast Beef Sandwich
317
10
Wendy's Plain Single
350
16
Worst Picks
Calories
Fat(grams)
Burger King Whopper with Cheese
711
43
Hardee's Bacon Cheeseburger
556
33
Jack In The Box Ultimate Cheeseburger
942
69
McDonald's McD.L.T.
674
42
Roy Rogers Bar Burger
611
39
Wendy's Bacon Swiss Burger
710
44
Note: Calories and fat are based on
the most recent printed information provided to us by each company.