1. Artery Crust
Judging by the label, Marie Callender’s (16.5 oz)
Chicken Pot Pie has "only" 520 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat,
and 800 mg of sodium. But look again. Those numbers are for only half a pie.
Eat the entire pie, as most people probably do, and you’re talking 1,040
calories, 22 grams of saturated fat (more than a day’s worth), and 1,600 mg of
sodium (an entire day’s worth).
2. Triple Bypass
Can’t decide what to pick from a restaurant menu? No
worries. Now you can order not just one entrée, but two… or three... all at
once. Olive Garden’s Tour of Italy – Homemade Lasagna, Lightly Breaded Chicken
Parmigiana, and Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo – comes with 1,450 calories, 33 grams
of saturated fat, and 3,830 milligrams of sodium. Add a breadstick (150
calories and 400 mg of sodium) and a plate of Garden-Fresh Salad with dressing
(350 calories and 1,930 mg of sodium) and you’ll consume almost 2,000 calories
(an entire day’s worth) and 6,160 mg
3. Salt's On!
On average, a cup of Campbell’s Condensed soup has 760
mg of sodium. That’s half a day’s worth … assuming you eat only one of the 2½
servings that the label says the can makes. Campbell’s Healthy Request and
Select Harvest, Progresso Reduced Sodium, and Healthy Choice slash the sodium
to the 400s. Look for lower sodium lines in the 100s to 300s by Amy’s, Imagine
Foods, Pacific Natural Foods, and Tabatchnick.
4. Tortilla Terror
Interested in a
Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour
cream, and salsa)? Think of its 970 calories, and 18 grams of saturated fat as
three 6-inch Subway BLT Classic Subs! Skipping the cheese or sour cream cuts
the saturated fat to 6 grams, but you still end up with 750 calories and more
than a day’s worth of sodium. Yikes!
5. Factory Reject
People don’t
expect light desserts at The Cheesecake Factory. But the Chocolate Tower
Truffle Cake kicks things up a notch. If it weren’t served on its side, this
one would stand over six inches tall. And upright or not, the slab of cake
still weighs in at three-quarters of a pound. What do you get for all that
heft? Just 1,760 calories and 2½ days’ worth of saturated fat (50 grams),
mostly from chocolate, sugar, cream, white flour, and butter.
6. Burial Grands
No one thinks
of cinnamon rolls as health food. But each Pillsbury Grands! Cinnabon Cinnamon
Roll with Icing has 310 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat plus 2½ grams of
trans fat (more than a day’s worth) and 5 teaspoons of sugar. Companies are
dumping their partially hydrogenated oils left and right, yet Pillsbury still
makes most of its rolls and biscuits with the stuff.
7. Transgression
“Excellent
source of ALA Omega 3,” declares the Land O’Lakes Margarine box. Who knew that
Land O’Lakes stick margarine was so heart healthy? It isn’t. Each tablespoon of
the spread has 2½ grams of trans fat (more than an entire day’s limit) and 2
grams of saturated fat. And beware of other trans-filled sticks by Blue Bonnet,
Parkay, Country Crock, and Fleischmann’s. At least those brands don’t imply
that a bit of ALA outweighs the harm caused by the margarine’s trans and
saturated fat. Shopping tip: Look for tub margarines – most have little or no
trans fat.
8. Starbucks on Steroids
The Starbucks
Venti (20 oz) White Chocolate Mocha with 2% milk and whipped cream is more than
a mere cup of coffee. It’s worse than a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheese.
Few people have room in their diets for the 580 calories and 15 grams of
saturated fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose 130 calories
and almost two-thirds of the bad fat if you order it with nonfat milk and no
whipped cream.
9. Extreme Ice Cream
An average
halfcup serving of Häagen-Dazs ice cream squeezes half-a-day’s saturated fat
and a third-of-a-day’s cholesterol into your artery walls and makes a nearly
300-calorie down-payment on your next set of fat cells – if you can stop at a
petite half-cup!
10. Stone Cold
Cold Stone
Creamery’s Oh Fudge! shake (chocolate ice cream, milk, and fudge syrup) starts
at 1,250 calories for the “Like It” (16 oz) size. That’s more than a large (32
oz) McDonald’s McCafe Chocolate Triple Thick Shake. The “Love It” (20 oz) has
1,660 calories and the “Gotta Have It” (24 oz) reaches 1,920 calories (just
about an entire day's worth) and 69 grams of saturated fat (3½ days’ worth).
That's the saturated fat content of two 16 oz T-bone steaks plus a buttered
baked potato, all blended into a handy 24 oz cup.