Healthy Tips for Hot Dogs and Hamburgers
June 26, 2017
Can people with diabetes eat hot dogs and hamburgers?
Yes, you can enjoy hot dogs and hamburgers on your diabetic diet. Just follow a few tips and tricks, and start enjoying these barbecue favorites guilt-free.
Hamburgers and Diabetes: The Best Choice
Hamburger, 3 oz.
Beef patty, 90 percent lean: 184 cal., 10 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 72 mg chol., 58 mg sodium.
McDonald’s patty: 214 cal., 8 g fat (2.5 g sat fat), 23 mg chol., 431 mg sodium.
Beef patty, 75 percent lean: 236 cal., 16 g total fat (6 g sat. fat), 76 mg chol., 66 mg sodium.
Hot Dogs And Diabetes: The Best Choice
Hot dog, 3 oz.
Beef, pork, and turkey, fat-free: 93 cal., 1 g total fat (0.5 g sat. fat), 35 mg chol., 678 mg sodium.
Beef and pork, low-fat: 129 cal., 8.5 g total fat (3 g sat. fat), 37 mg chol., 1,068 mg sodium.
Chicken: 190 cal., 14 g total fat (3 g sat. fat), 82 mg chol., 717 mg sodium.
The Best Choice: Brats
Bratwurst, 3 oz.
Chicken: 148 cal., 9 g total fat, 60 mg chol., 60 mg sodium.
Pork, beef, and turkey, light: 158 cal., 12 g total fat, 48 mg chol., 835 mg sodium.
Beef and pork: 252 cal., 22 g total fat, 66 mg chol., 721 mg sodium.
Poultry-based sausages cut the fat and calories slightly, but they’re still no nutrition nirvana. Plus, most vendors at ballparks and fairs don’t serve these low-fat varieties.
Despite this, you can enjoy hot dogs and sausages on occasion, says Patti Urbanski, who in addition to being a dietitian and diabetes educator has had type 1 diabetes for 30 years. “Let a few summertime splurges be your limit,” she says. “Know your nutrition goals — is it more important for you to limit saturated fat, calories, or sodium?”
Though Americans eat plenty of sausages, what’s in them has raised concerns and been the brunt of jokes. “Sausages have been unfairly maligned,” says Janet Riley, president of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. “Government standards strictly stipulate what sausages can — and can’t — contain. What’s on the ingredients list is what you’ll eat and nothing more.”
This article is brought to you by Hope S. Warshaw, R.D., CDE
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