Foods to Eat During the Super Bowl

Super Bowl Sunday tends to be an annual blow-out of football, friends and food.

As much as the celebrations may be about sport, delicious but high calorie snacks shape the NFL’s climactic final, when spectators enjoy eating almost as much as watching the game itself.

A study by Courtyard Hotels, published this week, found that America’s favourite game day food is chips and dip – with 61 per cent of U.S. Super bowl fans reaching for the fried potato crisps come kick-off.

Pizza, nachos, subs, barbecued meats and fried foods followed in quick succession, while just 28 per cent said they would choose other foods, including vegetables, as their number one snack food.

The same survey revealed that 29 per cent of Americans will watch the game at a friend or family member’s home – meaning many football fans are likely to a constant stream of well-meaning party refreshments.

Today.com’s nutrition expert David Zinczenko has a put together a fool-proof guide to the best and worst snacks to reach for on game day, refereeing the foods that signal a red card for weight gain and an unhealthy lifestyle.

While being a firm favourite, potato chips are a wickedly unhealthy option, he told the show.

He says 3oz of Lay’s chips with six tbsp of Lay’s french onion dip amounts to a staggering 630 calories, 42 grams of fat and a heart-stopping 1,230mg of sodium.

Far better, he says, to choose Baked! Tostitos, combining them with Tostitos salsa, which drastically cuts fat content and lowers salt and calories too.

Even soups can be a fine line to tread when it comes to avoiding calories, said the author of the Eat this, not that! series of healthy eating guides.

Mr Zinczenko says the Campbell’s New England clam chowder is worth steering clear of, with one can packing a 420 calorie punch. Instead, pick a low-cal Manhattan clam chowder by the same brand to almost half the calories.

Beer and football are natural bed-mates, but drinking a lite instead of a stout is a wise move. Just three bottles of Sam Adams Imperial stout is the equivalent to a shocking six cans of Coke.

When it comes to chicken wings and pizza, avoiding boneless wings and opting for thin-crust pizza is one way to at least try to avoid the excesses of the annual over-indulgence.