You’ll never guess how much fat is in a slice of pizza at this popular chain.
Indulgent. Delicious. Sinful. Essential.(Photo by Getty Images)
The new season of Scandal? Nope, we’re talking about something even more
provocative than Kerry Washington’s trembling lips. We’re talking about fat.
Fat
makes healthy food taste great. It slows hunger and speeds nutrients
into your body. And in the form of healthy fats from nuts, olives,
avocado and fish, it even feeds your brain, protects your heart and
trims your waistline.
But
too much of a good thing can go terribly wrong. And that’s especially
true of dietary fat. Most of what we eat today isn’t the healthy stuff,
but the less-healthy saturated and trans fats—fats that come from
animals or fats that are chemically altered to make them easier to work
with, but harder on our health.
And
when it comes to bad-for-you fat, today’s chain restaurants slather it
on like an overprotective parent with a bottle of sunscreen. The Centers
for Disease Control says that no more than 20 to 35 percent of total
calories should come from fat—somewhere between 44 and 78 grams a day.
(A gram of fat is worth 9 calories, for those of you keeping score at
home.) Yet even a single meal at some chain restaurants can deliver
once, twice, three times that amount. What’s truly amazing about the
following list of the 10 fattiest foods in America is that half of them
are appetizers, and only one is a dessert!
And to discover how healthy fats can make you thin, check out this indispensable list of 8 Fatty Foods That Make You Skinny.
#10 FATTIEST FOOD: Carrabba’s Italian Grill Calamari with Spicy Italian Peppers and Lemon Butter (regular size)
1,506 calories, 126 g fat, 53 g saturated fat, 8 g trans, 2,130 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: 15 McDonald’s Hamburgers!
Wait a minute: Isn’t calamari
seafood? Shouldn’t that be lean and healthy? Carrabba’s tortures this
squid the way SpongeBob tortures Squidward, rolling it in bread and
deep-frying it in trans fats. The American Heart Association wants you
to eliminate trans fats altogether, but at the high end, you should have
no more than 2 grams in a single day. This appetizer (we repeat:
APPETIZER!) delivers triple the total fat and four times the trans fat
in an all-out arterial assault. (Speaking of creatures from the fat
lagoon, click here to discover the startling reason why Tilapia is Worse Than Bacon.)
Eat This Instead:Arancini433 calories, 22 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 2,439 mg sodium
#9 FATTIEST FOOD: Uno Pizzeria & Grill Mega-Sized Deep Dish Sundae
2,700 calories, 130 g fat, 76 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 1,820 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: More than 31 pats of butter!
A giant cookie with a giant scoop
of ice cream on top, this is an unjust dessert no matter how many
people you might share it with. The insane levels of fat are made worse
by an even crazier 244 grams of sugar. That’s more than what you’d find
in 81 Hershey’s Kisses and nearly 10 times the World Health
Organization’s daily recommendation. Satisfy your sweet tooth guilt-free
with the definitive Eat This, Not That! rankings of the 50 Best Snack Foods in America.
Eat This Instead:Mini Hot Chocolate Brownie Sundae320 calories, 16 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 170 mg sodium
#8 FATTIEST FOOD: Uno Pizzeria & Grill Deep Dish Mac & Cheese
1,980 calories, 134 g fat, 71 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 3,110 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: More than 28 thick-cut slices of bacon!
Consider that a serving of
neon-orange Kraft Macaroni & Cheese made with milk and margarine is
about 400 calories and 19 grams of fat, and you realize that you’d have
to eat that for dinner for five straight days just to equal Uno’s fat
and calorie counts. (Note: This dish contains three and a half days’
worth of saturated fat.) If you hanker for a hunk of cheese, the Baked
Stuffed Spinoccoli is a chicken dish filled with feta, mozzarella,
vegetables and flavorful spices that saves you nearly 110 grams of fat.
Eat This Instead:Baked Stuffed Spinoccoli with Whole Grain Brown Rice and Roasted Seasonal Vegetable Side Dishes620 calories, 24.5 g fat, 7.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 1,700 mg sodium
#7 FATTIEST FOOD: Chili’s Grill & Bar Bacon Ranch Beef Quesadilla
1,800 calories, 135 g fat, 46 g saturated fat, 0.5 g trans fat, 3,990 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: 54 Kraft 2% Milk American Cheese Slices!
This is a Mexican food, but in
English, “bacon ranch beef quesadilla” roughly translates to “fatty fat
fat-fat.” Bacon and beef are self-explanatory; ranch dressing is
fat-based; and quesadillas have a double hit of the stuff, from both the
cheese and the flour tortilla. Safer options at Chili’s can be found on
their Southwest Pairings menu. (Speaking of pairings, warm up this
winter with one of our 10 Libido-Lifting Foods.)
Eat This Instead:Southwest Pairings Crispy Beef Taco with Rice, Black Beans and a Honey Lime Vinaigrette House Salad 760 calories, 34.5 g fat, 10.5 saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 2,800 mg sodium
#6 FATTIEST FOOD: On the Border Firecracker Stuffed Jalapenos with Salsa Ranch
1,900 calories, 138 g fat, 35 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 5,760 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: 15 scoops of Baskin Robbins Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream!
The results of stuffing anything
with a firecracker are self-evident—or will be once you step on a scale.
To prevent the explosion, pass up these flying fingers of fat and stick
with the heart-healthy guac.
Eat This Instead:Chips and Salsa with a Side of Guacamole485 calories, 26 g fat, 3.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 550 mg sodium
#5 FATTIEST FOOD: Houlihan’s Wings & Things Appetizer Combo
2,333 calories, 146 g fat, 51 g saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 4,236 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: Over 4 cups of Tostitos spinach dip!
We’re not sure what the “Things”
are, but they’re not good things. This app launches your evening with
more than a day’s worth of calories, and more than two day’s worth of
fat and sodium. Oh, and you haven’t even ordered dinner yet. (“Things”
aren’t the grossest food you may be eating. That’d be a “natural”
flavoring made from the tail-end of a, well, find out in our 8 Ingredients You Never Want to See on Your Nutrition Label.)
Eat This Instead:Bruschetta 619 calories, 44 g fat, 17 g saturated fat, 0 trans fat, 822 mg sodium
#4 FATTIEST FOOD: On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos2,240 calories, 155 g fat, 32 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 3,980 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: More Than 3 bottles of Coffee-Mate Girl Scouts Thin Mint creamer!
Fat equivalent: More Than 3 bottles of Coffee-Mate Girl Scouts Thin Mint creamer!
Run from the Border. Even the
World’s Most Interesting Man wouldn’t have the nerve to enjoy Dos XX in
the form of these fish tacos. He’d probably opt to save 145 grams of fat
by ordering the Chicken Fajitas. Then he’d disappear with your date.
(See where your favorite brew ranks in our headline-making list of the Best and Worst Beers.)
Eat This Instead:Chicken Fajitas320 calories, 14 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 770 mg sodium
#3 FATTIEST FOOD: Outback Steakhouse Plain Wings
1,919 calories 155.2 g fat, 53.1 g saturated fat, 3.5 g trans fat, 4,507 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: 13 regular sized Snickers bars!
Pairing this appetizer with a
main dish at Outback will likely fill you up with five to six days’
worth of fat. It’s true, Outback says this is an “Aussie-tizer to
share,” but there are only half a dozen wings in an order. Even if you
split them with your date, you’re still getting more fat than you should
eat in a whole day—before dinner comes.
Eat This Instead:Crab Stuffed Mushrooms481 calories, 43.5 g fat, 23.7 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 871 mg sodium
#2 FATTIEST FOOD: Individual Size Deep Dish Chicago Classic Pizza
2,300 calories, 164 g fat, 53 g saturated fat, 1 g trans fat, 4,910 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: 4 ½ Whoppers!
As a general rule, “personal
pies” are like “personal ads”—they’re places you go when you want to get
into trouble. Nowhere is that more true than at Uno, where even their
“individual” sizes are far better shared. No wonder Uno’s makes our
all-new list of The Best and Worst Pizzas in America.
Eat This Instead:Roasted Eggplant, Spinach and Feta Traditional Crust Flatbread880 calories, 32 g fat, 11 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 1,500 mg sodium
#1 FATTIEST FOOD: Outback Steakhouse Bloomin Onion with Bloom Sauce
2,097 calories, 176.5 g fat, 50.9 g saturated fat, 3.9 g trans fat, 4,357 mg sodium
Fat equivalent: almost 8 ½ slides of Domino’s Brooklyn-Style Buffalo Chicken pizza!
It should really be called the
Wiltin’ Onion for its 2 ½ shotglasses worth of oils, primarily the
inflammation-promoting omega-6 type. Even if—even if—you share this meal
with three friends, each of you is getting about a day’s worth of fat
and nearly as many calories as a Big Mac.
Eat This Instead:Coconut Shrimp614 calories, 34.5 g fat 18.3 g saturated fat, 1.6 g trans fat, 1,241 mg sodium
Which one dish has as much sodium
as 44 individual bags of Doritos Cool Ranch Tortilla Chips? Take
control of your health by clicking on this mind-blowing list of the 10 Saltiest Foods in America.
SAVE $$$ AND CALORIES NOW! For the latest food swaps and weight-loss tips, sign up for our free newsletter full of diet tricks, menu hacks, and easy ways to a healthier, happier you.
by yahoo news
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