Bagels Weigh In

It comes as no surprise to most us that the  average donut has 15-20 grams of fat and as many as 420 calories. But did you know the average bakery or bagel shop bagel weighs in at almost the same number of calories? Take the new trail mix bagel at Paneram for example. Surem trail mix sounds healthy; it even looks healthy with all those seeds peeking out. However, buyer beware! This bagel contains the equivalent of twp pats of butter and almost five slices of bread.

I am not saying that bagels cannot be included in a healthy diet, but consider the number of calories, fat, carbohydrate, and fiber before you make your choice for breakfast or snack. I personally eat bagels several times a week, but I buy whole wheat bagels at Trader Joe's or Back Bay Bagel. The Trader Joe's bagels are a little smaller than those from the bakeries, but with whole wheat as the predominant ingredient and 4 grams of fiber they are quite filling. Each TJ Whole Wheat bagle has only 240 calories, 9 grams of protein and only 1 gram of fat. I take them home and slice them in half and store them in my freezer. That way I can choose to eat a half bagel with natural peanut butter or almond butter for a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. I usually start my day with my protein fruit shake (see kj's recipes) and I tend to eat something every 3-4 hours.

See the comparison chart for info on bagels, donuts and other breakfast ideas:

Bagel Comparison Chart

Brand/variety	Calories	Protein (g)	Carbohydrate (g)	Fat (g)	Fiber (g)
Panera Trail Mix Bagel	420	10	70	10	4
Dunkin' Donuts Wheat Bagel	350	13	66	4	4
Dunkin' Donuts Multi grain Bagel	400	18	65	9	10
Starbucks Wheat Bagel	360	13	69		4
Finagle Whole Wheat Bagel	320	14	62	4	6
Finagle Honey Grain Bagel	299	14	66	1.5	5
Honey Dew Wheat Bagel	370	12	74		3
Dunkin' Donuts Choc gazed cake donut	340	3	38	19	1
Honey Dew Butternut Donut	405	4	56	22	2
1 slice whole wheat bread	70	3.5	12	1	2
1/4 cup shredded wheat with 1 cup non-fat milk	260	14	52	1	6
kj’s protein shake	280	25	29	1	10