Health Foods That Aren’t: Fast Food Edition

By Kelly Turner on August 25th, 2009

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Last week I brought you the Health Foods that Aren’t: Grocery Store Edition. This week, we dissect fast food chains and their seemingly healthy choices that just aren’t.

Fast food chains have caught onto the fact that America is fat, and that we are looking for healthier options. So, instead of actually making healthy options, they prey on the fact that most of us don’t know any better. Then, they give us cheap substitutes with healthy sounding ingredients.

Before you order your healthy lunch from a drive thru menu board, check out these fake healthy fast food culprits:

Specialty Salads: People hear salad and think: veggies! Healthy! Sure, veggies are healthy, but not when they are topped with croutons, bacon bits, cheese, candied nuts, and full fat creamy dressings.  Add on some crispy, fried chicken and your salad is a heart attack waiting to happen.  Most fast food salads are in the 500 calorie range, more than a cheeseburger, and some can even reach into the 800-1000 calories range. Yikes.

Chicken Sandwiches: Chicken generally contains less fat than beef, so people tend to think its a healthy choice.  The least of two evils is still evil, especially when its deep fried.  Fried chicken sandwiches are just as high in calories as beef burgers, sometimes even more. at McDonald’s, a  Premium Crispy Chicken Classic Sandwich has 530 calories, compared to a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, which has 510. Grilled chicken breast versions are always best, but will only save you about 100 calories.

Fruit Smoothies: Jack in the Box, Subway and Taco Bell have all recently come out with fruit smoothie options claiming to be made of all fruit. Plus ice cream. Or fruit flavored juice syrup. Or added sugar. Jack in the Box’s fruit smoothies have no fruit at all, just fruit juice and frozen yogurt.  The only place to get truly healthy smoothies made of fruit, yogurt and milk are from specialty smoothie places (still the check the ingredients because they have unhealthy options as well) or make them at home.

There are a few good options if you are in a pinch, but fast food restaurants are not the ideal places to eat. If you have to, some good choices:

Fruit and Yogurt Parfait (McDonald’s)- made of fruit and non fat yogurt, only 160 calories.

Side salads w/ low fat dressing- most places carry low fat dressing and the side salads don’t have all those unhealthy extras tossed on top.  Order 2 for cheaper than one big salad and save yourself hundreds or calories.

Broth Based Soups and Chilis: Taco Time and Wendy’s have awesome, low calorie chilis, and Subway offers low calorie, veggie-filled broth based soups.  Fill up on these and get some veggies at the same time.

Pic via www.foodmall.org