It’s time for another installment of Food Items You Really Don’t Want tTo Consume, courtesy of reporters more willing to sacrifice their health than we are.

The salt of the earth, and then some

First, from Men’s Health magazine, a list of the saltiest popular menu items in a variety of categories, which the authors urge you to avoid “if you care about heart health, blood pressure, and stroke.” Herewith, in increasing order, the saltiest, and in some cases otherwise unhealthy.

• Side Dish: Denny’s Honey Smoked Ham, 1,700 milligrams sodium, 85 calories
• Dessert: Atlanta Bread Company raspberry scone, 1,750 milligrams, 360 calories
• Soup: Baja fresh chicken tortilla soup, 2,760 milligrams, 320 calories
• Burger: Hardee’s 2/3 lb. Monster Thickburger, 2,770 milligrams, 1,420 calories, 108 grams fat
• “Healthy” food: Chili’s Guiltless Grill chicken platter, 2,780 milligrams, 590 calories, 85 grams carbs
• Pasta: Fazoli’s rigatoni Romano, 3,180 milligrams, 1,090 calories, 54 grams fat, 101 grams carbs
• Chinese entree: P.F. Chang’s beef with broccoli, 3,752 milligrams, 1,120 calories, 65 grams fat
• Breakfast: Arby’s sausage gravy biscuit, 3,754 milligrams, 961 calories
• Beef entree: Bob Evans steak tips and noodles, 4,131 milligrams, 822 calories, 43 grams fat
• Frozen dinner: Swanson Hungry Man XXL roasted carved turkey, 4,480 milligrams, 1,360 calories, 70 grams fat
• Bread: Dunkin’ Donuts salt bagel, 4,520 milligrams, 320 calories, 62 grams carbs
• Sandwich: Quiznos turkey bacon guacamole large sub with cheese and reduced-fat dressing: 4,670 milligrams, 1,120 calories, 49 grams fat, 116 grams carbs
• Pizza: Pizza Hut meat lover’s stuffed crust pizza, 3 slices of the 14″ large, 5,070 milligrams, 1,560 calories, 87 grams fat, 114 grams carbs
• Comfort food: Denny’s meat loaf dinner w. mashed potatoes and corn, 5,080 milligrams, 1,210 calories, 69 grams fat, 97 grams carbs
• Salad: Romano’s Macaroni Grill chicken Florentine, 5,460 milligrams, 840 calories, 53 grams fat
• Mexican entree: Chili’s buffalo chicken fajitas, 5,690 milligrams, 1730 calories, 107 g fat, 143 grams carbs
• Kids’ meal: Cosi kid’s pepperoni pizza, 6,405 milligrams, 1,901 calories, 93 grams fat, 190 grams carbs
• Seafood entree: Romano’s Macaroni Grill grilled teriyaki salmon, 6,590 milligrams, 1,230 calories, 74 grams fat, 79 grams carbs
• Appetizer: Papa John’s cheese sticks with buffalo sauce, 6,700 milligrams, 2,650 calories, 113 grams fat, 296 grams carbs
• Saltiest dish in the US, period: Romano’s Macaroni Grill chicken portobello, 7,300 milligrams, 1,020 calories, 55 grams fat

And be careful what you quench it with

Of course, after all that salt, you’re going to have a thirst like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou. But before you grab for that handy favorite beverage, writers David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding want to point out that the typical American consumes 82 grams of extra sugars per day, equivalent to 20 teaspoons and 317 empty calories, and that even those who limit themselves to diet sodas, low-fat lattes and non-alcoholic beverages can consume one-fifth of their daily caloric intake via liquids.

Here, after the fashion of the Saltiest Foods, are a few of the most Sugary Drinks in various categories.

• “Healthy” drink: Glaceau VitaminWater (20 ounces), 130 calories and 33 grams sugar, equal to a can of regular Coke, and — shocker — a Coca-Cola product.
• “Juice” drink: Arizona Kiwi Strawberry (23.5 ounces), 360 calories and 84 grams sugar, and just 5 percent actual fruit juice.
• Smoothie: Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d Power Smoothie (30 ounces), 1,170 calories, 169 grams sugar, and 30 grams fat.
• Summer Cocktail: Pina Colada, 625 calories, 75 grams sugar.
• And finally, the overall “Unhealthiest Drink in America” honor goes to Baskin Robbin’s Large Heath Bar Shake (32 ounces) for its midriff maximizing 2,310 calories, 266 grams of sugar, and 108 grams of fat, 64 of them saturated — a beverage which, they note, is the caloric equivalent of 11 Heath bars eaten back to back.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

Subscribe to our RSS feed | Weekly e-mail updates | Follow us on Twitter

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 and is filed under Beverages, Fast food and restaurants, Food miscellaneous, Soda pop, HFCS, and beverages. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.