Saturday, April 2, 2011

10 Worst Supermarket Foods

10 Worst Supermarket Foods

1. Worst Yogurt
Stonyfield Whole Milk Chocolate Underground (1 container)
220 calories
5 g fat (3 g saturated)
36 g sugars

Stonyfield is notorious for being generous with the sugar, but the 9 spoonfuls in its Chocolate Underground is bad even by the most indulgent dessert standards. Not even Ben & Jerry's most decadent scoop has this much sugar.

Eat This Instead!
Stonyfield Plain 0% Fat Yogurt
80 calories
0 g fat (0 g saturated)
11 g sugars

2. Worst Condiment
Eggo Original Syrup (1/4 cup)
240 calories
0 g fat
40 g sugars

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but not when it comes topped with this much sugar. Thanks to the combined impact of three liquid sweeteners, one serving of Eggo's pancake syrup has as much sugar as two packages of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, according to Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Survival Guide. That's no way to start the day.

Eat This Instead!
Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Syrup (1/4 cup)
25 calories
0 g fat
0 g sugars

3. Worst Pick-Me-Up
Vault Red Blitz (20-oz bottle)
290 calories
78 g sugars  

Here's a staggering stat: If you're used to drinking black coffee every morning, and you switch to this bottle of Vault, you'll pack on more than 5 pounds of body fat in the first two months on your normal diet. What's more, it's unlikely that you'll earn any extra buzz. This bottle has 115 milligrams of caffeine. An 8-ounce cup of coffee has as much as 200 milligrams. Stick with coffee or pick a leaner energy drink.

Drink This Instead!
Rockstar Recovery (16 fl oz)
20 calories
2 g sugars

Special Report:

Watch out for liquid calories! They add up frighteningly fast

4. Worst Ice Cream
Haagen-Daz Chocolate Peanut Butter (1/2 cup)
360 calories
24 g fat (11 g saturated)
24 g sugars

Premium ice creams are notorious for heavy loads of fat and sugar, but Haagen-Dazs' Chocolate Peanut Butter is just egregious. Eat two scoops and you've just consumed more calories than a McDonald's McDouble with small fries and more saturated fat than you should consume in an entire day. Drop the peanut butter and opt for Dark Chocolate instead. You'll take in fewer than half the calories and a third less sugar.

Eat This Instead!

Haagen-Daz Dark Chocolate (1/2 cup)
160 calories
17 g fat (10 g saturated)
16 g sugars

DID YOU KNOW? Grocery cart handles are dirtier than bathrooms, and half of them carry E. coli, says a new U of Arizona study.

5. Worst Frozen “Healthy” Entrée  
Healthy Choice Complete Meals Sweet & Sour Chicken (1 serving)
420 calories
9 g fat (2 g saturated)
480 mg sodium
25 g sugars

Since when has fried chicken been healthy? Certainly not when it's cloaked in syrup. This meal has as more sugar than a Reese's-flavored Klondike bar, which makes it more like dessert than dinner. If you’re too busy to cook your own chicken, at least make it nutritious; the Roasted Chicken below has less than half the sugar and 40 percent fewer calories.

Eat This Instead!

Healthy Choice Complete Meals Oven Roasted Chicken (1 serving)
250 calories
5 g fat (1 g saturated)
540 mg sodium
10 g sugars

6. Worst Packaged Side

Pasta Roni Fettuccine Alfredo (1 cup prepared)
450 calories
24 g fat (7 g fat, 3.5 g trans)
1,050 mg sodium
44 g carbohydrates

Once again, Alfredo proves itself to be the biggest belt-busting option on the shelf. And, in this case, it comes with a ruinous load of trans fat and as much sodium as three orders of McDonald's french fries. This side dish has a meal's worth of calories, and if you try to turn it into a meal in itself, expect to top 1,000 calories.

Eat This Instead!

Pasta Roni Tomato Parmesan (1 cup prepared)
270 calories
9 g fat (3 g saturated, 1 g trans)
840 mg sodium
40 g carbohydrates

7. Worst “Kids” Entrée
Kid Cuisine All American Fried Chicken (1 package)
540 calories
24 g fat (6 g saturated)
750 mg sodium

For kids approaching the pre-teen growth spurt, this might not be such a bad meal. But for smaller children, 540 calories quite the heavy load. Healthy lifestyles begin young, so use this as an opportunity to explain the importance of smart choices, like choosing the Dip & Dunk Ravioli instead. It has 220 fewer calories and half the saturated fat; plus, your little ones will have more fun with dippable pasta.

Eat This Instead!
Kid Cuisine Dip & Dunk Toasted Ravioli (1 package)
320 calories
7 g fat (3 g saturated)
290 mg sodium

8. Worst Stir-Fry
Bertolli Chicken Alfredo & Penne (1/2 bag)
630 calories
32 g fat (17 g saturated)
1,200 mg sodium

Dinner should get your blood flowing, but this chicken has as much saturated fat as 17 strips of bacon! Switching to Chicken Marsala will save you 240 calories per serving. Make a swap like that every day and you'll drop 25 pounds this year.

Eat This Instead!
Bertolli Chicken Marsala & Roasted Red Potatoes (1/2 bag)
390 calories
13 g fat (5 g saturated)
920 mg sodium

9. Worst Frozen Pizza
DiGiorno Traditional Crust Supreme Pizza (1 pizza)
790 calories
36 g fat (14 g saturated)
1,460 mg sodium

This is DiGiorno's lunch-sized pizza, and it has more calories than Taco Bell's Half Pound Cheesy Potato Burrito with Cinnamon Twists on the side. A calorie load like this will probably make you feel drowsy the second half of the day. Better to downsize your meal and preserve your energy—not to mention your waistline.

Eat This Instead!
DiGiorno Flatbread Melts Chicken Parmesan (1 package)
380 calories
14 g fat (7 g saturated)
750 mg sodium

10. Worst Packaged Food

Marie Callender's Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie (1 package)
1,020 calories
58 g fat (24 g saturated)
1,660 mg sodium

Marie Callender's commits the ultimate sleight of hand here: The nutrition information says this medium-size entrée has two servings, but let's get real—nobody wants to split a potpie. The problem here is twofold: a pie crust that's shot through with lard, and a filling that's swimming in cream. That makes for one fatty dish. Go with the Herb Roasted chicken and cut your your sodium by 44 percent, calories by 55 percent, and your saturated fat by 75 percent!

Eat This Instead!
Marie Callender's Herb Roasted Chicken (1 package)
460 calories
21 g fat (6 g saturated)
940 mg sodium

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