Super Bowl Sunday!! Are you ready for some healthy snacks? Wait I mean FOOTBALL!!!

Another guest blogger - Dietetic Intern Esteban Tlatenchi.

The Super Bowl is the most famous sporting event in the United States. The National Football League schedules it on the first Sunday of February, also known as Super Bowl Sunday. In the U.S., people view it as an unofficial national holiday. American football fans or not, people like getting together with friends and family to socialize, watch the commercials, cheer for their team or the underdog, and eat delicious finger foods.

The party will have plenty of food for the next couple of hours. Probably before the end of the halftime show, a person could eat at least one serving of everything. The Department of Agriculture ranked Super Bowl Sunday as the second-highest day of food consumption in the U.S. next to Thanksgiving. The top Super Bowl party foods are (in no order): sliders, nachos with a dip, pizza, chicken wings, pigs in a blanket, or anything wrapped in bacon, hot dogs, popcorn, party subs, loaded potato skins, and ribs. Food and drinks combined can add up many calories of high fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and sodium. Do not forget to include desserts and beverages, which include sugary drinks and beer. All these foods and drinks are delicious and tasty but come at a high price.

Imagine tallying the calorie values of some of the foods a person could eat during the game. Using CalorieKing and the USDA's national nutrient database, a person could eat about 4,000 calories, over 150 grams of fat, and 180 g of sugar from the items listed below.
                                                                      

Food	Qty	Cal	Fat	Carbs	Sodium	Sugars: Added	Cal Burn Time	Exercise
Costco’s Pepperoni Pizza	2 slices	1240	48 g	136 g	2580 mg	14 g	142 min or 345 min	Jogging Walking
Domino’s BBQ Chicken Wings	8 pcs	480	26 g	36 g	1680 mg	20 g	55 min or 134 min	Jogging Walking
Doritos Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips	22 chips (2 oz)	300	16 g	34 g	360 mg	2 g	34 min or 83 min	Jogging Walking
Regular Hot Dogs w/ ketchup & roll	2 hot dogs	630	37 g	58 g	1980 mg	18 g	72 min or 175 min	Jogging Walking
Tostitos Tortilla Chips with a hint of lime	12 chips	300	14 g	36 g	250 mg	1 g	34 min or 83 min	Jogging Walking
Tostitos Medium Salsa con Queso	8 Tbsp  (½ cup)	160	10 g	20 g	1120 mg	2 g	18 min or 44 min	Jogging Walking
Corona Extra Beer (39.3 g alcohol)	3 cans 12 fl oz	450	0 g	42 g	0 g	2.1 g	52 min or 125 min	Jogging Walking
Pepsi Soda	3 cans 12 fl oz	450	0 g	123 g	90 g	123 g	52 min or 125 min	Jogging Walking
Total consumed during the game		4010	151g	485 g	8060 mg	182 g	7.5 hrs or 18.5 hrs	Jogging Walking

The 150 grams of fat is about ¾ cups of butter and the 180 g of sugar is about a cup of granulated sugar added on top of it. Eating these foods is the easy part but burning it off is a different story. A person to burn all these calories would have to jog about two marathons or walk from the Verrazano Bridge in Brooklyn to the beaches of Montauk, Long Island, at a pace of 10 min/mile. That is a lot of exercising to do to burn the food eaten at the party. Yet, a healthier option would be much different.

The estimate of 4,000 calories is more than one day's total recommended caloric intake of 2,000. By the end of the day, a person could eat more than 6,000 calories between breakfast, lunch, and the Super Bowl Party. A person can gain about a pound or two depending on their body. Maybe it is one of the reasons many call in sick for work the next day. There are alternative food options that one can prepare that are still tasty and, more importantly, healthy. One can still enjoy the game, the party, and eat healthily. With a bit of research and preparation, one can make healthier delicious treats that everyone can enjoy. Hopefully, by the end of the game, your team and you won by watching what you ate.