Hand to mouth munching on chips, dips, and wings. A swig or two or three. A cookie here and there. And then there’s the “real food” at halftime – or maybe there was pizza first followed by a selection of subs. It’s Super Bowl!
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Super Bowl Sunday is the second biggest day for food consumption in the United States (Thanksgiving is first) — and usually the food doesn’t really fall into the healthy choice category.
You may – or may not – be riveted to the TV screen rooting hard for your team, but you may also be going along for the ride – happy to be at a party where there’s plenty of food and shouting and enthusiasm – a classic set-up for mindless and distracted eating. By the end of the game do you have a clue about how much – or even what — you have popped in your mouth.
Super Bowl Food Facts
- About one in twenty (9 million) Americans watch the game at a restaurant or a bar.
- Americans double their average daily consumption of snacks on Super Bowl Sunday, downing more than 33 million pounds in one day.
- The average Super Bowl watcher consumes 1,200 calories. (Source: Calorie Control Council). Potato chips are the favorite and account for 27 billion calories and 1.8 billion fat grams — the same as 4 million pounds of fat or equal to the weight of 13,000 NFL offensive linemen at 300 pounds each. (Source: ScottsdaleWeightLoss.com).
- Nearly one in eight (13%) Americans order takeout/delivery food for the Super Bowl. The most popular choices are pizza (58%), chicken wings (50%), and subs/sandwiches (20%). (Source: American Journal). Almost 70% of Super Bowl watchers eat a slice (or two or three) during the game.
- The amount of chicken wings eaten clocks in at 90 million pounds or 450 million individual wings. It would take 19 chicken breasts to get the same amount of fat that you usually get from a dozen Buffalo wings.
- On Super Bowl Sunday Americans eat an estimated 14,500 tons of potato chips, 4000 tons of tortilla chips, and eight million pounds of avocados. Five ounces of nacho cheese Doritos equals around 700 calories. You’d have to run the length of 123 football fields to burn them off. You’d have to eat 175 baby carrots or 700 celery sticks to get the same number of calories.
- According to 7-eleven, sales of antacids increase by 20% on the day after Super Bowl.
Want Some Calorie Saving Tips?
- Stick with grilled meat, veggies, or baked chips rather than fried. Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.
- Plain bread, pitas, or wraps are less caloric than biscuits or cornbread.
- Go for salsa and skip the guacamole.
- Minimize calories by dipping chicken wings into hot sauce instead of Buffalo sauce.
- Try using celery for crunch and as a dipper instead of chips.
- Try fruit for dessert.
- Go for thin crust rather than thick doughy crust pizza. Choose the slices with vegetables, not pepperoni or meatballs. If you’re not embarrassed, try blotting up the free-floating oil that sits on top of a greasy slice (soak up even a teaspoon of oil saves you 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
- Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating. Try alternating water or diet soda with beer or alcohol. That can decrease your alcohol calories (alcohol has 7 calories/gram) by 50%.