The Unhealthiest Drinks People Can Order From Drive-Thru Restaurants

8. The large Caramel Malt drinks are practically entire meals. 

You may remember all the commercials that often played on the TV that advertised the slushies and shakes from Sonic. They talked about how delicious they were, how many combinations you had to choose from, adding candy and other flavors to make up your own flavors if you so wished. However, what they didn’t talk about was how unhealthy some of those drinks were. If you plan on ordering food from Sonic and having a malt beverage for dessert, you may want to rethink that. Because the malt drinks are so loaded with calories, you would be shocked. 

So let’s talk about the large Caramel Malt here. Caramel is a lot of people’s favorite flavor when it comes to treats. It is quite good. However, it’s loaded with sugar and calories, making it super unhealthy. This drink alone has a shocking 1340 calories! That is more than half of your recommended daily calorie intake. Five hundred sixty calories are from fat, and it also contains 880 milligrams of sodium. You may want to consider just skipping your dessert if this is what you were going to order. 

7. This Oreo Cheesecake Malt is an unhealthy drink — to say the least!

As long as we are on the subject of ordering malts from Sonic, another is probably higher on the list than any other when it comes to calories. A large Oreo Cheesecake Malt from Sonic has 1890 calories by itself! That’s pretty much all the calories that are recommended for your daily intake. Say goodbye to your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks you planned on having if you were going to be counting your calories today. That just doesn’t even sound possible, but it is! 

Not only is this malt beverage so high in calories, it’s no surprise that it’s also super high in fat calories, at 730. With 195 grams of sugar and 265 carbs in just this drink by itself, no person with diabetes should be sipping on this drink. They would go into shock! Also, if you’re watching your sodium intake, this drink is not recommended for another reason, seeing as it contains 1550 milligrams of sodium as well. It’s a wonder if anyone has ever been able to order a large and finish it without getting a stomach ache afterward. 

6. Slushies aren’t just crushed ice and flavoring.

All kids love slushies, and Sonic is well known for their slushies. They have so many to choose from, you can mix and match the flavors, and you can even get some with candy added right into your drink if you want. That’s definitely not a healthy choice, but it’s one that the kids love, and even some adults, as well. They are fun summertime drinks and quite popular, too. So let’s talk about the Blue Raspberry with Rainbow Candy from Sonic for a minute here. Not only is it a colorful and tasty drink, but it’s also a favorite among many people.

When ordering a slushie, you may not think much of it. You may just think it’s crushed ice with some syrup added to it for flavor, but that’s not all that Sonic slushies have to offer. Not when they can also put candy and other flavors loaded with sugar into the mix. When ordering a large Blue Raspberry slush with Rainbow Candy, you will be drinking 730 calories that come along with it. Along with 185 grams of sugar. It doesn’t sound that refreshing after all, now that you think about it. 

5. A lot goes into that Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino. 

A popular drink at Starbucks would have to be the Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, and with good cause. It’s sweet, cool, and crunchy, all in one. However, we don’t think about what is put into our drinks to give them that fabulous taste. For example, do you know what Frappuccino syrup is made up of? Not many people probably do. One of the ingredients in it is called xanthan gum. It’s a common food additive, not harmful. Nevertheless, it may explain why you may get bloated and gassy after consuming certain beverages or foods that contain them. 

The Caramel Ribbon Crunch may have many ingredients that make it up that you aren’t concerned about. However, 24oz of this drink has 78 grams of sugar in it. It also has 24 grams of fat and 570 calories. That’s a decent portion of your daily recommended calorie intake. If you’re big into this drink, maybe try ordering the smaller size, seeing as it only has 330 calories in it. Saying that, however, a 12oz glass of this drink still holds 200 grams of sodium. That is quite a bit! 

4. Strawberry Crème Frappuccino is refreshing yet super filling. 

The Strawberry Crème Frappuccino blended beverage is another drink that may sound a bit more on the healthier side because it has fruit in it, but that’s where it gets you. Because not only does it have strawberries in it, but it’s a strawberry puree sauce, which contains a white grape juice concentrate, as well as xanthan gum that can cause you to become gassy and bloated as well. They also have to add fruit and vegetable juice for color. The strawberry puree wasn’t enough?

So the calories for the Strawberry Crème Frappuccino from Starbucks isn’t as high as other drinks on this list. However, it’s still up there. For a 24oz, or also known as a Venti when ordering, this drink has 460 calories per serving. It has quite a bit of sodium in it with 320 milligrams — and also 66 carbs. That’s still a lot if you have diabetes or having to watch your carbohydrate intake. Maybe this blended beverage isn’t as refreshing as it may look. 

3. That’s the way this cookie crumbles. 

When ordering a drink from Starbucks, you are given so many options to choose from. You can add a shot of espresso if you need the extra boost. Ask for another pump of flavor if you want it a bit stronger in flavor even. There are drinks from Starbucks that are a bit more on the healthier side when counting calories and carbohydrates. However, the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino is not on the list of healthy drinks, and for good reason. It even has the word cookie right in its name!

It may not seem so bad when ordering a Venti or a 24 oz. of the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino when looking at the carbohydrates since it only has 85, and other drinks have topped out over 100. However, it also has 590 calories in just this drink itself. It is possible to go to Starbucks and order a drink low in calories. However, this drink is not it. You could have a small meal in place of just this drink alone, doesn’t that sound like a better idea?

2. Tim Hortons isn’t just about the donut holes and hot coffee. 

When going into a Tim Hortons, some people still may think of it as a place to order a small hot coffee and a donut hole, but these days they have fancied up some of their drinks. They now have various drinks to choose from that vary from hot to iced to even frozen. So keep your options open when going to Tim Hortons next time. Also, keep in mind, though, that not all drinks are low in calories. You may want to ask for a nutrition pamphlet before ordering if you’re worried about ordering something high in carbs or calories. 

Tim Hortons has a delicious drink called Frozen Vanilla and Cream, and even though a large is only 20 oz., it is loaded with 660 calories. It definitely won’t seem like it when it’s sitting in front of you. That is why a nutrition pamphlet may be a good idea if you are concerned about what you’re ordering. This drink is also high in cholesterol, with 100 milligrams, and even has 180 milligrams of sodium. That’s quite a bit for such a small beverage, especially when you think about consuming 92 carbohydrates at once. If you have diabetes, you know that that is quite a lot for a drink that does not look very big.

1. Oreo Iced Capp drinks from Tim Hortons are just snacks.

Most people love Oreos, especially when they can dunk them in milk. When you can make it into a drink, that is a whole other ball game. That’s exactly what Tim Hortons did, however. They took a favorite cookie, and a favorite beverage loved by many and combined them to make a delicious beverage. It’s more like a snack than a drink, though, considering it contains cookies — and the massive amount of calories and carbs. You may not want to have this alongside a snack, though, seeing as it can be considered a snack itself. 

If you have a soy, wheat, or gluten allergy, you will want to avoid this drink. It’s also not a good idea to have this drink if you are lactose intolerant, but you probably already figured that out. Even though a large Oreo Iced Capp may not seem that big, the 670 calories loaded in this treat say otherwise. It’s also a bit high in sodium, containing 140 milligrams in it and 90 milligrams of cholesterol. That is just another drink on the list that you should probably avoid if you are trying to watch your figure or count your carbs because it also contains 86 carbohydrates. Do you still need more examples of unhealthy drinks? Check out these beverages that can cause serious health issues. 

Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

Starbucks

dunkindonuts.com/en/menu/nutrition

Tim Hortons

Tropical Smoothie Café

hsph.harvard.edu/…ionsource/carbohydrates