It's that time of the year again, and like most limited-time menu items, Americans tend to go crazy in order to get their hands on the seasonal Shamrock Shake every February and March. People either love 'em or hate 'em. Tragically for those of us who love these drinks, they're really really bad for you. A large shamrock shake has 820 calories—nearly half of our allotted daily caloric intake. To put this into perspective, here is a list of the copious amounts of other junk foods that you could eat before getting to the level of the Shamrock Shake.
1.5 Big Macs
While the Big Mac seems to have a reputation for being pretty awful for you, it turns out you could down almost two of these and still take in less calories than the shake.
16 Oreos
Next time you're feeling guilty for going through an entire row of Oreos, find comfort in the fact that you're still being healthier than if you got a shamrock shake.
1 and 1/3 boxes of Kraft Mac and Cheese
If you don't think that drinking a milkshake that has the equivalent amount of calories to a meal that could feed a family of four is concerning, then you probably won't be too upset about this. To everyone else—brace yourselves.
4.5 Krispy Kreme Donuts
Krispy Kreme lovers rejoice—these glazed treats aren't as bad for you as you'd expect. With 190 calories in each, it would take more than four of these to equal the amount of calories in a shamrock shake.
4 McDonald's Soft Serve Cones
If you have a McDonald's craving for something frozen and sweet, you might want to compromise with the classic vanilla cone. These have a quarter of the calories and are guaranteed to fix your craving.
3 Slices of Domino's Pizza
You'd have to eat almost half of a large dominos cheese pizza to consume the amount of calories that are in this milkshake. This should make you feel better about last weekend's drunchies.
10 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
At around 80 calories each, you'd have to eat 10 of these chocolates to get up to 820 calories. If you wouldn't sit down and eat 5 packages of Reese's straight, you might want to reconsider downing that shake.
2 Orders of Shake Shack Fries
If given the choice between this shake and Shake Shack fries, choose the fries always. 1. They're out of this world, and 2. they're half the calories of the shake.
7.5 Spiked Seltzers
At 110 calories each (for the White Claw ones), you can have 3/4 of a case of spiked seltzers. Unless you're participating in a case race, most people wouldn't readily drink this many seltzers back to back in one sitting. However, if you're going to drink 800 calories worth of liquids—this may be a more fun route than just chugging a shamrock shake.
An Entire Box of Froot Loops
At 880 per box, a large shake can be equivalent to almost 8 servings of this sugar filled cereal.
3.5 PINTS of Mint Chip Halo Top
They even have a mint flavor similar to the shake! Plus you can have wayyy more of this than you'd get with the shake.
275 Goldfish Crackers
At 3 calories each, you can eat a whole bunch of these before you even come close to that of the Shamrock shake.
5 and 1/3 bun-less hot dogs
Disclaimer—kinda psycho to eat these without the bun. If you're into that, though, you can have more than five of these and still have eaten less calories than you would if you drank a large shake.
So yeah—these shakes are pretty bad for you. But if they're you're thing, then go for it! They only come by once a year and you should get your hands on them while they last.
So yeah- these shakes are pretty bad for you. But if they're you're thing, then go for it! They only come by once a year and you should get your hands on them while they last!