Eating Healthy at the Airport

Even if you pack your own snacks, there will inevitably come a time when every business traveler gets stuck at the airport and needs to eat. Unfortunately, not all choices are equal when it comes to airport food, and finding a healthy snack or meal can be difficult.

With help from David Zinczenko’s Eat This, Not That! we’ve located the good and the oh-so-bad of six popular fast-food chains often found at airports. Read before you eat.

Dunkin’ Donuts

Choice Chow: Ham, Egg & Cheese English Muffin Sandwich

Diet Destroyer: Multigrain Bagel

Why: The breakfast sandwich is the better choice because it has less calories, fat, and saturated fat. If bagels are your best friend, order a reduced-carb or plain variety and skip the cream cheese.

Starbucks

Choice Chow: Grande Sugar-Free Nonfat Vanilla Latte

Diet Destroyer: Grande 2% White Chocolate Mocha

Why: Switching from 2% milk to nonfat milk is a nutritionally sound move, and avoiding the white chocolate mocha saves 340 calories and 18 grams of fat.

Aunt Annie’s

Choice Chow: Original Pretzel Without Butter

Diet Destroyer: Whole Wheat Pretzel Without Butter, with cheese sauce

Why: You might think whole wheat is always the better choice, but people who are watching their fat, calorie, and sodium intake benefit from ordering the original pretzel instead. The original variety has about half the fat of the whole-wheat recipe and clocks in at 70 calories less.

Jamba Juice

Choice Chow: Berry Fulfilling Smoothie, 24 oz.

Diet Destroyer: Aloha Pineapple Smoothie, 24 oz.

Why: The pineapple smoothie sits at 500 calories, the berry smoothie only 260. Plus, the berry flavor contains about half as many carbs as the seemingly healthy pineapple blend.

Burger King

Choice Chow: Whopper Jr. (without mayo) and Garden Salad

Diet Destroyer: Tendercrisp Chicken Garden Salad with Ken’s Ranch Dressing

Why: If you hold the mayo on the Whopper Jr., the salad contains 30 grams of fat more than the burger.

Sbarro

Choice Chow: Low Carb Cheese Pizza, one slice

Diet Destroyer: Deep Dish Cheese Pizza, one slice

Why: As the name suggests, the first option has fewer carbs than its deep-dish counterpart, but it also cuts the calorie and sodium content by about half.