In spite of the name, French fries are practically an American
birthright. They’re offered as the first choice side dish with nearly
every fast-food and sit-down chain meal available. But here’s the catch:
In a recent study of 7,318 New York City patrons leaving fast food
chains during the lunch hour, researchers learned that combo
meals—meaning meals with sides—averaged 1,100 calories each, which is
over half a day’s allotment. It goes to show: When your regular meals at
these restaurants are already pushing the nutritional envelope, adding
an extra 300 (or more!) empty calories can make for a dietary disaster.
The authors of the best-selling weight-loss series Eat
This, Not That! and Cook This, Not That!
have rounded up three of the worst orders of fries available at chain
restaurants across the country. We’ve also offered up the surprising
winner of the fast food French fry cook-off—you’ll never believe which
restaurant chain produces the healthiest fried spuds!
Worst
Curly FriesArby’s Curly Fries (Large)
640 calories
34
g fat (5 g saturated, 0 g trans)
1,460 mg sodium
Arby’s is
famous for its curly fries—too bad they’re overloaded with fat, calories
and sodium. When one side dish accounts for nearly three-quarters of
your daily allotment of salt, you know there’s a problem. As fun as
these curli-Qs are, stick to the Homefry variety at Arby’s—downsizing to
a small Curly Fries will still leave you with a 410-calorie side, which
is more than many of Arby’s sandwiches!
Bonus tip:
For full nutrition information for all of your favorite chain
restaurants and thousands of foods, download
the bestselling Eat This, Not That! iPhone app. It’s like having
your own personal nutritionist in your pocket at all times, and will
help you avoid the caloric calamities and guide you to the best ways to
lose your belly fast.
Eat This Instead!Homestyle Fries
(Small)
350 calories
15 g fat (2 g saturated)
720 mg sodium
Worst Wedge Fries
Jack in
the Box Bacon Cheddar Wedges
715 calories
45 g fat (13 g
saturated, 1 g trans)
905 mg sodium
It doesn’t take a
nutritionist to identify the hazards of a grease-soaked,
cheese-slathered sack of deep-fried potatoes, but by appearance alone,
nobody could guess what’s really at stake when you order this side from
Jack’s. The American Heart Association recommends that people cap their
trans fat intake at 1 percent of total calories. For people on a
2,000-calorie diet, that’s about 2 grams per day. See the problem?
Another issue, of course, is the overload in calories—about one-third
your daily allotment!
Bonus tip: Cheese fries
are clearly an unhealthy choice. But sometimes healthy-seeming options
are just as dangerous as the obvious diet-sinkers. For 30 jaw-dropping
examples, check out The
30 Worst Sandwiches in America.
Eat This Instead!Grilled
Chicken Strips (4) with Fire Roasted Salsa
185 calories
2 g fat
(0.5 g saturated)
805 mg sodium
Worst Fries for Your Blood Pressure
Dairy
Queen Chili Cheese Fries
1,240 calories
71 g fat (28 g saturated,
0.5 g trans)
2,550 milligrams sodium
This one’s a no-brainer:
Chili, cheese, fried potatoes. But even a savvy eater couldn’t possibly
anticipate how bad these 3 ingredients could be when combined by one
heavy-handed fast-food company. There’s as much sodium in this side dish
as you’ll find in 15 strips of bacon. Stick with classic ketchup and
recapture nearly a day’s worth of sodium and 930 calories.
Bonus
tip: Save calories, time, and money with our free
Eat This, Not That! newsletter. Sign up today and you’ll get the Eat
This, Not That! guide to shopping once and eating for a week for
free!
Eat This Instead!French Fries (regular)
310
calories
13 g fat (2 g saturated)
640 mg sodium
Worst Regular Order of Fries
Five
Guys Fries (large)
1,464 calories
71 g fat (14 g saturated)
213
mg sodium
Unfortunately, Five Guys doesn’t offer anything but
fries in the side department. Your safest bet, of course, is to skip the
fries altogether (you’d be better off adding a second patty to your
burger), but if you can’t bring yourself to eat a burger sans fries,
then split a regular order. That will still add 310 calories to your
meal, but it beats surrendering more than 75% of your day’s calories to a
greasy paper bag.
Bonus tip: Sides account for a
third of our combo-meal calories—but drinks account for a quarter of
the total calories we consume each day! Battle the liquid bulge: Avoid
all drinks on this shocking list of The
Worst Drinks in the Supermarket.
Eat This Instead!Regular
Fries (1/2 serving)
310 calories
15 g fat (3 g saturated)
45
mg sodium
Worst Fries in AmericaChili’s
Texas Cheese Fries w/Jalapeno Ranch
1,920 calories
147 g fat (63 g
saturated)
3,580 mg sodium
The only thing that comes close to
redeeming this cheesy mound of lard and grease is the fact that it’s
ostensibly meant to be shared with a few friends. Even so, you’ll
collectively be taking in an entire day’s worth of calories, three days’
allotment of saturated fat, and a day and a half’s allotment of sodium.
What’s even scarier, if you can imagine, is that even if you try to
order more sensibly and ask for the “half” order of Texas Cheese Fries,
you’ll still receive a disastrous dish that packs in 1,400 calories.
There’s one French fries side dish at Chili’s that’s acceptable,
although even in its much-reduced form, you’d be better off splitting
it.
Bonus Tip: See what other Chili’s items made
our list of The
20 Worst Restaurant Foods in America.
Eat This Instead!Homestyle
Fries
380 calories
23 g fat (4 g saturated)
230 mg sodium
Best
Fast Food Fries in AmericaMcDonald’s Small French Fries
230
calories
11 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
160 mg sodium
Out of
the big three fast food joints (Mickey D’s, Wendy’s, and BK), you’ll
find the least caloric, least salty fries underneath the golden arches.
The key to ordering a smart side dish is portion sizing—and McDonald’s
has that under control.