It’s officially Hot Dog Summer. And we’re not (just) referring to chocolate Labradors basking in the sun. The hot dog has always, of course, been a summer classic. But this year, despite never really having left, the hot dog can only be described as so back. Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi have a frankfurter-eating showdown coming to Netflix. Costco’s new finance chief recently confirmed the sanctity of the $1.50 dog. Some of us are straight up eating them sidesaddle. So there’s no reason not to spend these glorious few months tossing back glizzys like popcorn. Or is there?
What other people eat is not my business (unless, of course, they’re trying to eat my hot dog). But there’s something about the sweet celebrations of summer and the savory simplicity of hot dogs that makes it all too easy to black out and gobble down three or more in a single session—or make them a regular meal as you lurch from cookout to cookout.
While many of us eventually find ourselves asking, “Did I just eat too many hot dogs?” it turns out “too many hot dogs” is a number that’s difficult to pin down.
“Let's say you had a very wholesome breakfast and a very wholesome dinner, and then you go out to the baseball game and you had one hot dog,” suggests Angel Planells, MS, RDN, a Seattle-based registered dietitian nutritionist and national media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. “Is one hot dog with a bag of chips and a soda or beer going to destroy you? For the most part, no.”
Context matters. How are you sleeping? What else did you eat today? Are you generally active? Do you have any preexisting health conditions, especially ones that require medication? “It's a complicated question,” Planells says.
Speaking generally, a 1.5 ounce dog has about 200 calories, with an additional 100 for the bun. Adding condiments like ketchup or mustard, “you're looking at 300 to 350 calories per hot dog,” Planells says. “If the average person consumes 2,000 calories a day, that's 15% of your calories right there.” But the thing to be aware of is a wiener’s sodium content, which Planells says can range from 400 to 700 mg.
“That could be a concern for somebody with kidney disease or hypertension or any cardiac issues,” he says. “From a therapeutic perspective, those people with health issues might wanna have one only, and make sure they are conscious of what's happening throughout the rest of the day.”
Hot dogs do also include some beneficial ingredients. The average wiener contains about 7 grams of protein. Planells says it’s also a good source of vitamin B12, and contains phosphorus, selenium, and zinc. And, of course, there are also alternatives to the traditional beef and pork frank: Ones made with meats like chicken or turkey often contain less fat and are lower in sodium.
As for “too many” hot dogs, be it in one sitting or one month, the tell-tale sign is the same: You should take a beat “if you're feeling clearly uncomfortable after” indulging, Planells says. Hot dogs, like all foods, are neutral in a vacuum, and should not be classified as “good” or “bad.” Instead, think about the context in which the hot dog lives, and all that came before it—in other words, “people's individual appetite, their health status, what they consume for breakfast, what they consume for lunch or dinner prior to consuming hot dogs, and where it fits into their intake pattern.”
So is it still a Hot Dog Summer? Absolutely. From baseball games to backyard barbecues to the lowly boiled frankfurter I make at home when we’re out of all other food, there’s no wrong way to enjoy a hot dog. And if you’re not a fan? In the words of Planells: “That just is more for the rest of us, I guess.”