French fries—minus a little guilt

French fries are an American fast-food favorite, but they catch a lot of flack—too much fat, too much salt, not to mention too many calories. But now that Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s have cut the trans fats from their fries, you can enjoy them with a little less guilt. Our taste testers recently tried the new trans-fat free fries from the three fast-food restaurants, and found some good news: they all taste about the same as they used to. Take a look at the french-fry face-off results.

Of course, you’ll want to keep your health in mind—these fries are still considerably high in fat and calories. A medium-sized order of McDonald’s fries comes in at 380 calories and 19 grams of fat, Wendy’s has 430 calories and 20 grams of fat, and Burger King topped out at a whopping 480 calories and 23 grams of fat. A high intake of saturated fat can lead to obesity and high cholesterol—precursors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.

So what’s the skinny? Keep french-fry runs to a minimum, particularly if you’re already at risk.

—Ginger Skinner

Comments

[GalaxyHiker]

I love french flies.
To decrease my guilt, I order mine
w/out any salt.
For some reason, burger kings tastes
salty inside...I wonder if that has
something to do with the way they
prepare them.
My favorite is from what a burger &
mcdonalds!

[Kim]

I'm a recovering French fry addict. I used to have them at least once a week (often more, heading to McDonalds when I was too busy to cook!). As of today, I haven't had fast food French fries for roughly 1-1/2 years.

I've lost 60 lbs with the help of Sparkpeople (free!) and now whenever I crave fries, I toss a slided potato with olive oil (& sometimes Parmesan cheese) and bake them in the oven. I actually prefer my home fries and know it's SO much healthier for me!