National Donut Day Post-Celebration Calorie Count

National Donut Day was yesterday, June 6, and if you didn’t know that, you may have missed out on free treats. Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme both offered free donuts (though Dunkin’ offered theirs only with a beverage purchase), as did some smaller chains and local shops.

If you were aware of the holiday, and you indulged, either for free or by purchase, you may be wondering today just how much damage you did to your pre-summer diet.

You are in luck, then. We’ve got the Donut Day caloric content rundown for you, right here.

If you kept it simple, with the basic classic glazed donut we all remember from our school fundraiser days, you probably stayed around 200 calories.

Krispy Kreme lists their glazed donut at 190 colories. Dunkin Donuts lists theirs at 260. If you bought or were given a plain glazed at a chain or local establishment, you can probably estimate the caloric content to be somewhere in that range. That’s little enough that FitWatch says many people can burn it off in 15-20 minutes with a workout machine.

Of course, if you went a little fancier, a little sweeter, a little more indulgent, you can probably expect to have gone for a higher calorie count.

One popular choice that’s still a pretty low-level indulgence is the chocolate frosted. If you went this route, you still didn’t do too much damage to your diet. Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts rate theirs at, respectively, 240 and 270 calories. which still falls less than a 20 oz Mountain Dew (290 calories).

Adding sprinkles brings the total up by around 11-20 calories.

If you go for a filled donut, however, the calories stack up pretty fast: Krispy Creme rates their raspberry-filled at 342 calories per serving, and Dunkin’s glazed jelly donut is listed at 310. If you’ve eaten three jelly-filleds, you’ve consumed about half the day’s calories, for a 2,000 calorie-per-day diet.

Of course, if you go for a real specialty, like Krispy Kreme’s Birthday Cake Batter donut, pictured below, you can really expect to rack up the numbers: this one is listed at a whopping 410 calories.

Now, for the good news! While some of these numbers can look a bit intimidating, most nutritionists agree that there’s nothing wrong with an occasional indulgence. Besides, it’s for a good cause: The holiday, was, according to The DCist, started by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor women who served donuts to soldiers in WWI, not by food and beverage chains to line their pockets, as many cynics may think.

If it’s ever okay to indulge in a sweet treat, a day when it’s done to remember those who worked to bring some cheer and some of the comforts of home to American soldiers is the time.

[pImage Credit: Krispy Kreme, FoxLad, and WestportWiki]