By Matthew Thompson,
Associate Food Editor for EatingWell Magazine
I love the smoky bite of a hot dog mounded with sweet and tangy
toppings and the delicate, salty balance of meat with the bun. But
I’m not a huge fan of the buckets of sodium and oozing fat many hot
dogs contain. Plus when you eat a hot dog with an average
white-bread bun, you add 100+ calories and 200+ mg of sodium to the
calories, fat and sodium the hot dog already contains. So is a
healthy hot dog even possible?
Don’t Miss: What’s Actually in a Hot Dog?
Joyce Hendley investigated this hot dog dilemma in the
July/August 2011 issue of EatingWell Magazine. While hot dogs are
not exactly a nutritionist’s favorite food, they can shine as the
calorie bargain of the barbecue: you’re better off with a 100- to
150-calorie hot dog on a bun than with a 230-calorie hamburger or a
285-calorie bratwurst.
But when it comes to choosing a hot dog, it turns out that not
all dogs are created equal. Reaching for the right brand in the
grocery store can have a huge impact on your intake of fat and
sodium…and determine how tasty your cookout will be as well. Serve
your healthier hot dog on a whole-wheat bun with fresh toppings and
you’ve got yourself a winning meal.
Recipes to Try: Salsa Dog and More Healthy Hot Dog and Hamburger
Recipes
What’s the best hot dog to choose? The EatingWell Test Kitchen
evaluated healthier hot dogs based on our nutrition parameters: 150
calories or less, 3 grams of saturated fat or less and 370 mg of
sodium or less. Here’s how to find the best, healthiest hot dog and
our picks for healthier hot dogs.
SORTING OUT SOME OF THE WORST HOT DOGS
First off, let’s talk about the bad and what to avoid:
• Steer clear of big fat dogs. Beware of jumbo,
stadium and bun-length dogs, which can be almost double the size of
a regular dog and have more of everything—including calories, fat
and sodium. For example, Ball Park Jumbo Beef Franks have 240
calories, 8 grams of saturated fat (36% of your daily recommended
limit) and 670 mg of sodium (28% of your daily recommended limit).
And watch out for saturated fat. Some bruisers, such as Oscar
Mayer’s XXL Premium Beef Franks, manage to pack a solid 9 grams of
artery-punishing saturated fat into each link (40% of your daily
recommended limit). The dog, which weighs in at 76 grams, are 57%
bigger than the Oscar Mayer Classic Turkey Hot Dog at 45 grams.
• Beware of salty dogs. If you think opting for
a turkey or chicken frank is going to cut the fat, you’re usually
right but watch out: often sodium is added in place of fat. For
instance, Oscar Mayer’s Turkey Franks have just 2.5 grams of
saturated fat and 100 calories, but they have 510 mg of sodium. And
the Foster Farms Chicken Frank packs a slug-melting 550 mg of
sodium into each hot dog—about a quarter to a third of your daily
limit, and that’s before you add the bun and toppings. Yikes!
HEALTHIER HOT DOGS
So then, what’s a health-conscious griller to do? The EatingWell
Test Kitchen offers these tips for what to look for and picks for
some delicious hot dogs that won’t send your diet on vacation.
Here’s how to pick a healthier dog:
• Choose hot dogs labeled “Uncured” or “No added
nitrates.” Sodium nitrite or nitrate (additives found in
most hot dogs to help extend shelf life) are linked by some (but
not all) experts to increased cancer risk.
• Pick sodium-smart dogs. We tasted, it’s true:
dogs don’t have to be salt bombs to taste great. Look for brands
with 370 mg sodium or less. For beef dogs, check out Applegate’s
Uncured Beef Hot Dog, which has a delicious beefy flavor and weighs
in at only 70 calories, with only 2 grams of fat and 330 mg of
sodium—though you’d never know it to try them, since they have the
fatty, salty flavor of a less healthy dog! High marks also go to
the Boar’s Head Lite Skinless Beef Frankfurter, which has a mild,
German-style wurst flavor and keeps its numbers similarly slim with
fat and calories, even managing to shave off a bit of sodium.
That’s no small feat, since many “lite” brands of beef hot dog are
big-time sodium offenders. Health-wise, we liked Applegate Uncured
Turkey Dog, which has a rich, savory flavor that mimics a beef or
pork dog, and boasts a trim 40 calories, 1 gram of saturated fat
and amazing 260 mg of sodium.
• Go for organic hot dogs. These dogs, such as
Applegate’s Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog, are made from
organically raised animals, not treated with antibiotics or
hormones. Plus they skip the nitrites and nitrates.
• For all-out nutrition, nothing tops a veggie
dog, such as the Lightlife Smart Dog, which clocks in at
45 calories and 0 grams of fat—that’s a dog you shouldn’t feel bad
heaping toppings upon! Also impressive was the Tofu Pup, which had
a mere 0.5 gram of saturated fat.
What’s your favorite healthy hot
dog?
Matthew Thompson is the associate food editor for EatingWell Magazine.
Matthew Thompson is the associate food editor for EatingWell Magazine.
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