You’re on the road, had no time for breakfast, but see a Dunkin Donuts sign looming ahead. Is it possible to find something healthy to eat there? If you had asked me this question years ago, I would have said NO! But while I wouldn’t give Dunkin Donuts an A+ for nutrition, it has added a few somewhat healthy menu items.

I have memories as a child of going to Dunkin Dunkin donuts every Sunday with my family and being allowed to choose 2 donuts. (I also worked at McDonald’s as teenager - no wonder I rebelled and became a nutritionist!). I remember the donuts being tasty, oozing with jelly or cream - but far from nutritious. I don’t think I’ve had a donut since the age of 16. So when I saw a Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwich on one of my client’s food records, my first inclination was to tell her it was not a healthy choice. However I decided to do a little research first and found out I was wrong! Her choice was the egg white and veggie flatbread sandwich.  (See pic)

Nutritional content of some Dunkin Donuts menu items

In the chart below, I listed a few of the many item breakfast items found at Dunkin Donuts. Check out their link for the full menu with nutritional content. The majority of items are loaded with calories and fat.  My recommendations are based on the item being 350 calories or less and 7 grams of fat or less. While some of the donuts meet those criteria,  I just can’t bring myself to put them on the “recommended” list!

Navigating the breakfast choices at Dunkin Donuts

1. Avoid sandwiches made on bagels, croissants or biscuits as they will greatly increase the calories and/or fat content. Stick to the english muffins or flatbreads.

2. Avoid cream cheese - or at least use a very small amount. It will add 190 calories and 17 grams of fat (and 13 grams of saturated fat!) Yikes - this is more than most of us should consume in the entire day.

3. Skip the fancy coffee drinks and stick to plain coffee or tea.  Some of the coffee drinks have 300 calories or more.

4. If you really have the urge for a donut, try to stick to 2 munchkins or a French Cruller. I was actually suprised to see that most of the donuts were lower in calories than I thought (~ 300 calories per donut), however they tend to be loaded with fat - especially the artery clogging saturated fat. I usually recommend that you try to keep your saturated fat intake to 7%  or less of your total caloric intake (especially if you have high cholesterol). This comes out to be 9 - 15 grams of saturated fat a day - depending upon your caloric needs.

5. My first two choice for a breakfast at Dunkin Donuts would be the egg white and turkey sausage flatbread or  the egg white and veggie flatbread sandwich. They are fairly low in calories and fat. I was suprised to see that the turkey sausage sandwich was lower in calories and fat than the veggie sandwich! However, these sandwiches are also low in fiber (only 3 grams) and high in sodium (680 - 820 mg) - so don’t ditch your bowl of whole grain cereal with nonfat milk and fruit for this breakfast item!

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