That Milkshake Has How Many Calories???!
October 21, 2008
If you’re watching your weight, you might be interested in a new law just passed in California. Starting next year, chain restaurants will have to print the calorie content of their foods in brochures for customers. And beginning in 2011, they’ll have to post calorie counts right on the menu. That means the 500 calories in that fruit smoothie or the 600 calories in a muffin will be staring you in the face when you order.
What’s the point, beyond the shock value? Some people think it’s a bad law. They say the government should stay out of our food choices. Others say we all need better information to make educated choices about our food. You may not know that New York City passed a similar law a few months ago, and guess what? All of a sudden the low-cal choices were so popular, restaurants started running out of them! I have to confess that on a recent trip to NYC, I opted out of the blueberry muffin when I saw how many calories it had as well as its fat content. I opted for a bran muffin instead – and it was actually better than I thought. I probably would not have made that choice if those numbers were not literally in my face!
It’s too soon to know whether New Yorkers have lost weight thanks to their law, or whether Californians will get skinnier thanks to theirs. But here’s why knowing those calories might be good for your diet:
- You might be underestimating the calories in the food you’re served. When asked about restaurant foods like a burger and fries or pasta with cheese sauce, people in one study misjudged by hundreds of calories!
- Fast food often has more calories than the same dishes cooked at home. Extra fat and sugar make foods taste good. And at many restaurant chains, the folks are sometimes more interested in cost and preparation time than in making things low-cal or healthy. In the past, they also were concerned that "healthier" choices would not sell.
- Foods that look healthy aren’t always diet-friendly. A vanilla milkshake (my favorite kind!) at one popular chain restaurant has about the same number of calories as a cheeseburger and fries.
Even if your local restaurants aren’t required to post calories, you might notice that some are getting on board. Yum Brands—the company behind KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s, Taco Bell, and A&W—will put calories on the menu starting this year, not just in California but nationwide.
Of course, if you’re trying to stay healthy, the calorie count isn’t the only thing you need to know. Keep an eye on fat content and try to get plenty of fruits and veggies. Don’t go too low on the calories in a meal, either, or you might wind up so hungry that you’ll overeat later. To get a rough idea of the calories you need each day, try the calorie counter provided by Discovery Health.
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holy cow! milkshake = cheeseburger and fries?!
Posted by: Ally | January 15, 2009 at 11:10 AM