OMG! Domino’s has combined two of my favorite foods: chicken nuggets and pizza!  Is this proof that God loves us?  Their new product has 12 chicken nuggets and cheese for protein, oil and cheese for fat, and no crust! Yes, it is low-carb!  Domino’s and I go way back.  I used to eat a medium pepperoni all by myself.  Now, I can finally get the Homer Simpson physique I have been looking for!

Why the sarcasm? I am a little insulted and I think anyone concerned about their health and the health of their family should feel a little insulted by the games being played by the fast food industry.  Should we be running out to buy a product that incites our impulses and simply makes us fatter and sicker? Should a company like Domino’s bring such a product to market knowing the health crisis in this country?  They have the right to do so but…

…frankly, this is no different from the local drug dealer selling the next level of high.

“I’ve Found My Thrill… On Blueberry Hill”

Domino’s is the #2 pizza company in the U.S. with $7.4 billion in sales in 2013 and it is seeking to expand its market share in this highly competitive business.  Part of its current strategy is to offer a ‘new’ product now known as the Domino’s Pizza Specialty Chicken.  Here are the numbers for this self-proclaimed ‘innovative’ culinary creation.  I’m sure Fats Domino didn’t have this in mind on Blueberry Hill:

Crispy Bacon & Tomato Specialty Chicken. Photo by: theimpulsivebuy.com

• Calories:       690 (35% of DV)
• Fat:               48g (75% of DV)
• Cholesterol   120mg (39% of DV)
• Sodium:        2150 mg (93% of DV)
• Protein:         52g

Domino’s original nutritional facts report values for each serving, indicating that each Specialty Chicken product contains three servings.  The nutritional facts above are for all three servings.  Why?  Seriously, 10 chicken nuggets was an appetizer for me and I got a feeling that many people will order this product in addition to their regular pizza order and eat the entire Specialty Chicken Pizza product in one sitting.

I know this because this is something that used to get me every time.  Ever notice that the most popular appetizers are salty and fatty (e.g., Bloomin’ Onion, Mozzarella Sticks, Fried Calamari, Coconut Shrimp, etc.).  There is a reason for this, salt and fat are the overture to the sugar, salt, fat symphony!  After eating an appetizer like this, I would almost forget, “Wait, I haven’t had the main course!” You feel like you are getting a good value, but there is a price to pay. Too late, the music has begun.

The Domino’s Symphony Orchestra

The salt from the Specialty Chicken will make you thirsty and fiend for a coke or sprite (diet of course, because we are watching our weight.)   You are wanting sugar at this point but the diet coke only supplies a sweet flavor and therefore does not satisfy the desire.  The Specialty Chicken is high in salt and fat but low in carbs (sugar), that great because…

..after finishing the Specialty Chicken as an appetizer, you will feel carb starved and gagging for pizza.  It will taste like a slice of heaven… perhaps by design.

Once you have begun eating the pizza, the sugar, salt, fat, symphony goes into crescendo; an effect amplified if you haven’t eaten all day or if your blood sugar was low.  Problem: At this point you will eat more pizza than you ought at a time where you may have already exceeded your daily caloric, fat, cholesterol, or sodium intakes before finishing the appetizer.  After enough pizza (and soda), you will finally feel full. This is good for the pizza business, but bad for your health.

Please note that the fat in this version of the Domino’s Specialty Chicken product is 92% saturated fat and the total fat in this product is responsible for more than 62% of total calories.  The FDA recommends you consume no more than 30% of your daily calories from fat.  I can hear the old me saying, “Dude it has 52g of protein so what’s the problem?”  I now know the problem is that in order to get that 52g of protein from this product, I have to ingest 482* calories of junk from the other ingredients.

Conclusion

If it makes sense to you to go get 12 chicken nuggets arrange them close together, put cheese, bacon, and douse them in BBQ sauce and bake them until melted, then the Domino’s Specialty Chicken is for you.  If you are over the age of 25 and you still like this idea, I believe you can get a coupon for an orange jacket and a free sample of Crestor; after all, you can take Crestor with food. I’m kidding about the coupon, but you will probably need a cholesterol lowering drug and other maintenance meds soon if eating like this is a regular pattern in your life.

*1 gram of protein is 4 calories.  The total calories from protein in the above example is 4 (cal/g) x 52g = 208 calories.  The calories from the other ingredients in the product equals 690 – 208 = 482.  An athlete pressed for time would opt to get the same 52g of protein, without the junk calories, from two scoops of whey protein mixed with water approximately, 220 calories. Remember, the athlete is also exercising regularly.

Dominos Specialty Chicken & Pizza by www.offthegridhealth.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.