The time has come again for National Doughnut Day, and this year, big companies in the doughnut industry such as Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme are taking part as they hand out free doughnuts to their patrons. Fun as it may be to eat free doughnuts, we still have to remain cautious about the things we put in our body especially on a special day such as National Doughnut Day.
Sweet, Sugary Snacks
It's no secret that too much sugar in your daily diet isn't exactly good for anyone's health. Regardless of whether you spell it as "doughnut' or 'donut," there's no denying that they are one of America's favorite snacks. After all, Boston has the most number of doughnut shops in the world. Yes, the world.
Still, doughnuts also aren't the healthiest snacks, but on a day like this, let's at least look at the sugar breakdown of some of our favorite doughnuts so we can enjoy the day without compromising our health tomorrow.
Dunkin' Donuts
On National Doughnut Day, Dunkin' Donuts is offering a free doughnut with every purchase of a beverage at participating stores. Some of their most popular doughnuts are the basic Glazed, Boston Kreme, Glazed Chocolate, Strawberry Frosted, Jelly, Blueberry Cake, and Old Fashioned.
In the case of Dunkin' Donuts, the basic Glazed doughnuts come with the least caloric value of 260 calories per doughnut, while the Blueberry Cake and the Glazed Chocolate comes at a hefty 340 calories apiece.
In terms of sugar content, the Old Fashioned doughnut has the least amount of sugar at 10 grams, the Glazed doughnut comes next with 12 grams of sugar, followed by Strawberry Frosted with 14 grams, Jelly with 15 grams, the Boston Kreme and Glazed Chocolate with 17 grams each, and the Blueberry Cake again comes last with 21 grams of sugar.
Take note, the FDA recommends an intake of less than 10 percent sugar each day, which amounts to no more than 12 teaspoons or about 50 grams of sugar a day for a 2,000-calorie diet.
Krispy Kreme
Krispy Kreme will offer one free doughnut to their customers with no other purchase necessary. Among Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, the Original Glazed Doughnuts has the least amount of sugar at 10 grams, while Double Dark Chocolate comes heavily packed with 27 grams, followed by Chocolate with Sprinkles, which comes with 23 grams of sugar.
Tim Hortons
If you happen to mention National Doughnut Day, Tim Hortons will offer one free doughnut with every purchase of any coffee products.
Tom Hortons' Chocolate Dip Donut comes with the least amount of sugar at a decent 8 grams, while their heftiest doughnut (at least sugar-wise) is the Honey Cruller, which packs a punch at 330 calories with 22 grams of sugar.
Though most believe that doughnuts date back to the 1900s, archaeologists have found fossilized evidence of doughnuts that date back to Native American settlements. This just proves that the love Americans have for doughnuts has been standing against the test of time and will likely hold firm for many, many years more.
Perhaps this is all the more reason to start learning about the sugar content of the sweet doughnuts we eat so that we'll have many more years of enjoying doughnuts and many more years of free doughnuts on National Doughnut Day.
