Why You Might Want To Skip Out On Dairy Queen Salads
It's almost as though there are automatic alarms inside our brains that scream incessantly about the need to eat healthy and lift weights every time we consider even looking at a slice of chocolate cake. If only our eyes viewed carrots with such incredible lust.
Eating salads is frequently seen as being an ideal healthy option, but an issue arises when trying to make them — they're so inexplicably long-winded. After spending hours searching for the ingredients, preparing a salad involves more chopping and swearing than a boisterous Halloween party.
The easiest solution is to rely on pre-made salads, such as those produced by Dairy Queen. Although readymade salads are unlikely to be as cost effective as homemade ones, they are considerably more convenient. In fact, Eat This, Not That! believes that Dairy Queen's salads are among the best options on its extensive menu. However, the salads may not be the health wonder that they seem.
Salads are only as healthy as what's in and on them
Aside from the Dairy Queen website insisting that the perfect accompaniments to its salads include sugary drinks, ice cream, and chocolate fudge, the nutritional values of its products reveal some interesting truths. The Crispy Chicken Strips Salad, for instance, contains 400 calories, 1,050 micrograms of sodium, and 22 grams of fat (which is especially unhealthy when compared to a Side Salad containing only 25 calories and 15 micrograms of sodium — via Dairy Queen's website).
The crispy Chicken BLT Salad is similarly filled with 1,070 micrograms of sodium, 21 grams of fat, and 400 calories, whereas the Rotisserie-style Chicken Bites Salad is packed with 870 micrograms of sodium, 15 grams of fat, and 320 calories (via Dairy Queen's website). Dairy Queen also explains that the nutritional content of its salads does not include the effects of dressings.
In order to produce a genuinely healthy salad, the American Heart Association recommends a combination of fruit, vegetables, and herbs. Although chicken is suggested as a source of protein, it advises using grilled meat (pictured above) rather than the battered variety provided by Dairy Queen.