We’ve all been there: we’re in a rush, we’re hungry and the only way we can get some much-needed energy in the form of food is by visiting a fast-food joint. So you mosey up to counter of the establishment of your choice and are confronted with a variety of options. You’re trying to be healthy so you go for the salad. You made the best choice, right? In some cases you did. But as we all know, fast food restaurants spend lots of time and money trying to make their products the best tasting and this usually involves adding fat, sugar, sodium and other unhealthy ingredients. It’s hard to navigate your way around menus these days, and it takes time researching what your best options are.
Take Taco Bell’s Taco Salad — do you think it is a healthy choice? Let’s review the ingredients. There’s beans, cheese, seasoned ground beef, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, sour cream and taco chips. How many calories and fat do you think that adds up to?
a) 650 cal, 14 g of fat
b) 320 cal, 28 g of fat
c) 600 cal, 32 g of fat
d) 360 cal, 10 g of fat
The answer is C, 600 calories, 32 g of fat. Of that fat, 15 g are saturated fats and 3.5 g are trans fats — the two worst kinds of fats. And low-carb dieters can forget about this one too — there’s 52g of carbs in there as well.
There’s a silver lining to this cloud though — if you leave out the sour cream, the taco chips and the beans, the salad is 250 cal, 15 g of fat and 14 g of carbs. It’s even less if you leave out the cheese, but then it’s just meat, veggies and salsa — a bit boring if you ask me.
Author by Martha Edwards
