Good Foods Gone Bad
Posted on Dec 3rd 2009 11:30AM by Mary Kearl
Bananas vs. Banana Chips
Good: Bananas, 1 medium
Calories: 105
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: Banana Chips, 1 oz.
Calories: 140
Fat: 9-10 g
Don't let this trail-mix staple fool you into thinking it's as healthy as dried grapes or even regular bananas -- its calorie and fat content is almost equivalent to that of Lay's Classic Potato Chips! Plus, this bad banana tacks on about 8 grams of saturated fat, or about 40 percent of the USDA Food Pyramid guidelines' recommend daily intake.
Hard Boiled Eggs vs. Deviled Eggs
Good: Hard Boiled Egg, 1
Calories: 70-80
Fat: 5 g
Bad: Deviled Eggs, 2 halves
Calories: 120-150
Fat: 10-15 g
Deviled eggs demonize otherwise harmless hardboiled egg snacks by adding diet-wrecking mayonnaise. Every tablespoon of regular mayo slathered into deviled eggs adds about 10 grams of fat and 100 calories. In the past, eggs were avoided because of their high cholesterol content, but the American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends eggs as a source of protein, iron, vitamin B2 and B12, as well as lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that help combat age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss among older Americans. But since just one hard-boiled egg contains more than 60 percent of the recommended cholesterol intake, limit yourself to one egg a day.
Veggie Burger vs. Burger King's Veggie Burger
Good: Boca Vegan Burger
Calories: 100
Fat: 2.5 g
Bad: Burger King Veggie Burger with Cheese
Calories: 470
Fat: 20
Boca's 100-calorie patty is one lean source of protein. But while Burger King's cheese- and mayo-layered version adds 12 grams of protein, it comes at the cost of nearly 10 times as much fat. If you do eat the BK version, you'll need to watch your sodium consumption for the rest of the day, because at 1320 milligrams, or about twice the amount the Boca Burger contains, it contains more than half your daily allowance. For those counting carbs, Burger King's burger has 47 grams to Boca's 9, so you might consider skipping the bun.
Cabbage vs. KFC Cole Slaw
Good: Cabbage, 1 cup cooked
Calories: 20-30
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: KFC Cole Slaw
Calories: 180
Fat: 10 g
Where cooked cabbage packs in waistline-friendly fiber along with cancer-fighting ingredients like vitamin C and beta-carotene, KFC's cole slaw adds mayo, which equates to 10 times as much fat, six times the calories and nearly half the daily recommended amount of added sugar intake.
Chickpeas vs. Falafel
Good: Goya Chick Peas, per cup
Calories: 100
Fat: 2 g
Bad: Near East Falafel, 2 1/2 falafel patties
Calories: 220
Fat: 14 g
Just one serving of chickpeas contains 7 grams of fiber, or 28 percent of your daily needs, along with 10 grams of lean protein. Falafel on the other hand, cuts the fiber down to 5 grams and ups the fat content sevenfold. Plus, most falafel sandwiches are prepared with creamy sauces which like most condiments tack on fat and calories, without leaving you feeling any fuller.
Fish Fillet vs. Breaded Fish Fillet
Good: Gorton's Grilled Garlic Butter Fillet, 1 patty 108 g
Calories: 100
Fat: 3 g
Bad: Gorton's Crunchy Golden Breaded Fish Fillet, 2 patties 108 g
Calories: 240
Fat: 12 g
If you're going to eat the breaded version, stick to half the serving, or one patty, which will cut your fat and calories down to 6 grams and 120 calories, respectively. This is still heftier than the grilled version, however, and will reduce your protein intake from 9 grams to 4.5. Meanwhile, the grilled patty packs 19 grams of lean protein.
Spinach vs. Creamy Spinach Dip
Good: Spinach, 1 cup
Calories: 7 calories, raw; 41 calories, cooked
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: Tostitos Creamy Spinach Dip, 2 Tablespoons
Calories: 50
Fat: 4 g
The 2005 USDA dietary guidelines recommend eating three cups of dark leafy vegetables like spinach a week, and it's no wonder. Just one cup of cooked spinach is a low-calorie, nutrient superstar -- it's an excellent source of vitamin A and C, calcium, iron and also rich in dietary fiber and vitamin E. One serving of Tostitos spinach dip, on the other hand, contains next to no nutritional value. Plus, do you really want to have consumed 50 calories after two spoonfuls?
Steamed Rice vs. Fried Rice
Good: Rice, white, 1 cup cooked
Calories: 200
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: Rice-a-Roni Fried Rice, 1 cup cooked
Calories: 310
Fat: 10 g
When it comes to nutrition, white rice often plays second fiddle to its brown counterpart, but while it may not be the fiber-champion of the rice bowls, white rice has been revamped to include "enriched" and partial brown-rice or wild-grain mixes that are high in nutrients like iron and folic acid. While fried rice does add veggies -- you'd be better off adding steamed veggies and a small portion of lean protein than prepping this fatty variety of greens.
Steamed Clams vs. Clam Chowder
Good: Steamed Clams, 1 cup
Calories: 140
Fat: 2 g
Bad: Campbell's New England Clam Chowder Soup, 1 cup
Calories: 210
Fat: 9 g
This tragic transformation turns a low-fat source of a high-protein food into a fatty soup with only some protein. Not only do you end up eating more than four times as much fat by slurping your clams instead of chewing, the soup variety contains about a third of the protein that the same serving size of steamed clams would have.
Raisins vs. Yogurt Raisins
Good: Sun Maid Raisins, 1/4 cup
Calories: 130
Fat: 0 g
Bad: Sun Maid Vanilla Yogurt Raisins, 1/4 cup
Calories: 130
Fat: 5 g
Not only does the yogurt variety of Sun Maid raisins inject sugars to already naturally sweet grapes, it fattens up an inherently fat-free snack. This dairy-coated snack also contains less fiber and potassium than plain raisins, while simultaneously adding 4 grams of saturated fat, or 21 of the daily recommended intake.
Smoked Salmon vs. Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese
Good: Smoked Salmon, 3 oz
Calories: 100
Fat: 4 g
Bad: Dunkin Donuts Salmon Cream Cheese, 2 oz
Calories: 170
Fat: 17 g
More than 25 percent of your daily fat content from one serving of cream cheese? That's what you'll get from this good food gone bad from Dunkin Donuts. Oh, and don't even think about having two servings of this cheese. If you do, you'll have more than the daily recommended amount of saturated fat. But smoked salmon, or lox, isn't entirely blameless -- if you eat a 3-oz serving you'll have about 70 percent of the sodium you should consume in one day.
Zucchini vs. Zucchini Bread
Good: Zucchini, 1 cup
Calories: 20
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: Zucchini Bread, 1 slice
Calories: 200
Fat: 9 g
A typical zucchini bread recipe contains white flour, eggs, oils and even walnuts -- which altogether turns the 30-calorie snack into a not-so-diet-friendly dessert. Plus, your actual zucchini consumption is pretty minimal, as only two cups are used for an entire loaf of bread.
Figs vs. Fig Newtons
Good: Figs, 2 raw
Calories: 70-90
Fat: 0 g
Bad: Fig Newtons, 1 bar
Calories: 110
Fat: 2 g
Think these candied fruit cookies are healthy? Then take a look at the ingredients. These oh-so deceptively bad for you cookies contain a major trans-fat culprit: partially hydrogenated soybean oil, as well as high fructose corn syrup, which some studies have linked to obesity risk, but the American Medical Association has recently said that more research is necessary. Our advice? Stick to dried figs -- a low-cal, high-fiber snack.
Spicy Tuna Roll Sushi vs. Dragon Roll
Good: Spicy Tuna Roll, 4 pieces
Calories: 140
Fat: 2 g
Bad: Dragon Roll, 4 pieces
Calories: 290
Fat: 15 g
While sushi is nowhere near the top of fast-food diet offenders, not all rolls are created equally. Recipes vary, but the dragon roll typically contains rice, tempura, avocado, cucumber, seaweed and eel, which if you didn't know, is one fatty fish -- one 3-oz serving of eel has 156 calories and 10 fat grams compared with 100 calories and less than 1 gram of fat in three ounces of tuna.
Cranberries vs. Dried Cranberries
Good: Cranberries, 1 cup
Calories: 50
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: Sunsweet Dried Cranberries, 1/3 cup
Calories: 140 calories
Fat: 0 g
Dried cranberries are certainly a healthy alternative to fatty fast-food or calorie-bloated desserts, but if you swap this dried snack for the raw version you can eat three times as many cranberries for about one third the calories. Plus, the dried kind adds on about 25 grams of sugar to cranberries' 4 grams of sugar per serving, which is more than half the daily limit of 40 grams added sugar the USDA recommends.
Sweet Potatoes vs. Sweet Potato Fries
Good: Sweet potato, 3 oz steamed
Calories: 80 calories
Fat: 0 g
Bad: Alexia Sweet Potato Fries, 3 oz
Calories: 150
Fat: 6 g
Plain old sweet potatoes are anything but plain -- diet-friendly, they're packed with vitamin C and E, beta-carotene, folic acid and potassium, and the ADA recommends them because just one-half cup "delivers more beta-carotene (antioxidant) than 12 cups of broccoli." If sweet potatoes are great, then the fried version must be a leaner alternative to greasy fries, right? That isn't necessarily the case. Alexia's French fries have 3.5 fat grams and 130 calories -- or 2.5 fat grams and 20 calories fewer than the sweet potato version.
Onions vs. Onion Rings
Good: Onions, 1 cup cooked
Calories: 90
Fat: Less than 1 g
Bad: T.G.I. Friday's Beer Battered Onion Rings, 3 pieces
Calories: 180
Fat: 8 grams
The problem with this good-food-gone-bad scenario, is while you're probably able to stop eating onions after a one-cup serving, unless you have mastered portion control, you're not likely to stop munching after just three rings. So be warned, just six onion rings uses up about a fourth of your daily fat allowance.
Thin Crust vs. Deep Dish Pizza
Good: Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust
Calories: 80
Fat: 0 g
Bad: Domino's Ultimately Deep Dish Crust
Calories: 160
Fat: 0 g
Of course, you're probably not ordering Domino's pizza to be healthy, but we've got to admit it, their thin crust pizza isn't so bad for you. Not only will you shave off calories from the thinner crust, Domino's adds more cheese to the Ultimately Deep Dish Crust than its thin crust or hand-tossed versions, so you shave off an additional 15 calories and 1 fat gram.
