Three of the Unhealthiest Restaurants in the US and How to Eat Healthy at Them.

If you live in the United States, statistically there’s a 63% chance that you are overweight. As a nation, we have unhealthy diets, terrible exercise regiments and have some of the least healthy restaurants in the world. We know that we should go out to eat at McDonalds every day, but are some restaurants worse than others? Absolutely! Men’s Health recently did a study of the menus across 66 chain restaurants across the country. It found that some major chains surprisingly offered very healthy food, and found that eating at others on a regular basis will put you on a fast-track to a heart attack.

Baskin-Robbins scored very low on the list. They have been previously criticized for offering a Heath Shake that had over 2,300 calories. To their credit, they have recently lowered that shake to 1900 calories. Their soft-serve ice cream has just about the highest-calorie density that you can get, and their smoothies contain more sugar than they actually do fruit. If you go to Baskin-Robbins, checkout the light menu to avoid the worst offenders. Their frozen yogurt, sherbet, and no-sugar added ice cream are also healthier options.

Carl’s Junior was also an offender. As most fast-food restaurants are moving toward healthier products, Carl’s Jr. is focusing on attracting individuals with big appetites. Their products contain more fat, salt and calories than just about any other fast food franchise. For example, the lightest item that they have on their breakfast menu is the hash-brown nuggets, which have a whopping 5.5 grams of trans-fat. (You’re not supposed to get more than 2 grams of trans-fat per day). Your best bet is to eat lunch somewhere else, but if you have to eat there, checkout the chicken salad or the charbroiled BBQ chicken sandwich, which comes in at just under 400 calories.

Denny’s didn’t fare too well either. Each one of their “Slam” breakfasts come in at over 800 calories a pop, and their burgers aren’t any better. Their double-cheeseburger is the single worst in the country, coming in at 116 grams of fat, and 7 grams of trans-fats. Men’s health labeled their double cheeseburger “the worst burger in America.” The magazine suggest that you checkout their “Fit Fare” menu if you want to eat healthy there. Their soups, grilled chicken and sirloin steak are also less-unhealthy options.

The other restaurants that ranked very poorly in the lost included Dairy Queen, Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Uno Chicago Grill, Chevy’s, On the Border, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Baja Fresh, Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback, T.G.I. Friday’s.  The restaurants that were the healthiest included Chick-fil-A, Subway, Jamba Juice, Au Bon Pain, Boston Market, Cici’s Pizza Buffet and oddly enough, McDonalds.