Healthiest Foods At Tim Hortons And The Worst
Tim Hortons nutrition: healthy options vs unhealthy options
On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m sharing the healthiest foods at Tim Hortons and the worst.
Note: the video from this post was filmed back in 2012, however I’ve attempted to update the information based on updates Tim Hortons has made to their menu.
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The journey continues to find the healthiest fast food options when you have to eat out.
Can you find healthy foods at Tim Hortons?
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Lets find out in week 5 of our fast food edition of Food Wars.
Food Wars is the series where I analyze and compare healthy foods versus unhealthy foods.
I then share which menu items you should eat and which ones you should stay away from.
To date, I’ve analyzed the following fast food restaurants:
Today, I’m sharing the healthiest foods at Tim Hortons.
So what do I think of the nutritional value of the food at Tim Hortons?
How did it compare to the other fast food restaurants?
Lets jump in and discover the healthiest options as well as the unhealthy options at Tim Hortons.
Tim Hortons nutrition: what is your healthiest option?
After analyzing the nutrition information on Tim Hortons website, I have to say this up front.
Tim Hortons, step up your game, and show some transparency, by including the ingredients information on your website.
Even though the calorie and macronutrient information is included on their website, unlike most other fast food restaurants, Tim Hortons does not share what ingredients they use to make their food.
From a health perspective, it is very important to know the ingredients in the foods that you’re eating.
Based on this lack of information…
All of my analysis is strictly based on the macronutrient information, not the ingredients that go into making their food.
However, Tim Hortons has said that MSG is not added to any of their foods.
Plus they do have a table that shares which foods contain common allergens.
From what I have seen, soy is in pretty much every food, so that should give you a good idea of what is to come.
Lets start with the Tim Hortons sandwiches
After analyzing the Tim Hortons sandwiches, there really weren’t any sandwiches that looked terribly unhealthy.
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The healthiest Tim Hortons lunch sandwich
If I had to choose the healthiest Tim Hortons sandwich, I would choose the turkey melt.
2019 nutrition facts: turkey melt
- Calories: 510
- Protein: 41g (32% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 43g (34% of calories)
- Fiber: 4g
- Fat: 21g (37% of calories)
- Sodium: 200mg
The worst Tim Hortons sandwich
2019 nutrition facts: BLT sandwich (regular size)
- Calories: 420
- Protein: 17g (16% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 56g (53% of calories)
- Fat: 15g (32% of calories)
- Sodium: 770mg
Even though this BLT sandwich is not high in calories, the macronutrient breakdown of the calories are not balanced.
53% of the calories come from carbohydrates while only 16% of the calories come from protein.
Let’s move on to breakfast portion of the menu.
The healthiest Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich
Similar to the lunch sandwiches, all the Tim Hortons breakfast options were fairly similar from a macronutrient breakdown.
The bacon breakfast sandwich is probably the healthiest Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich option,
2019 nutrition facts: bacon breakfast sandwich
- Calories: 400
- Protein: 18g (18% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 33g (33% of calories)
- Fat: 22g (50% of calories)
- Sodium: 1000mg
I picked this bacon breakfast sandwich as the best because it was lower in calories.
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The worst Tim Hortons breakfast sandwich
2019 nutrition facts: farmer’s breakfast sandwich
- Calories: 660
- Protein: 21g (13% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 49g (30% of calories)
- Fat: 42g (57% of calories)
- Sodium: 1450mg
I basically picked the farmer’s breakfast sandwich because it was higher in calories and sodium.
Let’s get into the good stuff, the drinks at Tim Hortons.
The worst Tim Hortons drinks
2019 nutrition facts: apple cider (extra large)
- Calories: 460
- Protein: 0g (0% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 116g (100% of calories)
- Sugar: 116g
- Fat: 0g (0% of calories)
- Sodium: 15mg
2019 nutrition facts: hot chocolate (extra large)
- Calories: 530
- Protein: 4g (3% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 101g (76% of calories)
- Sugar: 86g
- Fat: 13g (22% of calories)
- Sodium: 810mg
2019 nutrition facts: french vanilla cappuccino (extra large)
- Calories: 550
- Protein: 9g (7% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 91g (66% of calories)
- Sugar: 70g
- Fat: 17g (28% of calories)
- Sodium: 480mg
Yes, 116g, 86g, and 70g of sugar in these 3 Tim Hortons drinks.
If you don’t want to consume that much sugar, you may think a fruit smoothie would be a healthier choice for you.
2019 nutrition facts: mixed berry fruit smoothie with greek yogurt (large)
- Calories: 290
- Protein: 7g (10% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 62g (86% of calories)
- Sugar: 57g
- Fiber: 0g
- Fat: 1.5g (5% of calories)
- Sodium: 105mg
Yes, 62g of sugar in a fruit smoothie.
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Now you may be thinking, if Tim Hortons uses fruit, there must be fiber, thus making it a better source of sugar.
Well that sounds like it would make sense, but there is 0g of fiber in the mixed berry fruit smoothie.
That means a lot of the nutrients have been taken away.
86% of the calories come from this Tim Hortons smoothie comes from carbohydrates.
This means there is little protein and fat.
What do you think that amount of sugar will do to your hormones and blood sugar levels?
This is why I have such a big issue with these unhealthy fruit smoothies.
It’s another example of a food being branded as healthy, when it is obviously not.
Speaking of food mistakenly being perceived as healthy, lets talk about Tim Hortons yogurt and berries.
Sounds like this greek yogurt could be a healthy alternative right?
2019 nutrition facts: vanilla (or strawberry) greek yogurt with mixed berries and almonds
- Calories: 270
- Protein: 15g (22% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 40g (59% of calories)
- Sugar: 25g
- Fiber: 3g
- Fat: 5g (17% of calories)
- Sodium: 90mg
This is another example of a food that is branded as being healthy, even though almost 60% of the calories come from carbohydrates, with 25g of sugar.
Now lets talk about what Tim Hortons is really famous for, besides the coffee.
I’m referring to Tim Hortons baked goods:
- donuts and timbits
- muffins
To be honest, if you’re going to have any of these baked goods, you may as well pick the one that you want the most, since none of these will be healthy for you.
But if you really want to cut back, here are the Tim Hortons baked goods to stay away from.
The worst Tim Hortons donuts
All these donuts are higher in calories, carbohydrates, sugar, and low in protein.
- Apple Fritter Donut:
- calories: 310
- protein: 7g (9% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 53g (68% of calories)
- sugar: 19g
- fat: 8g (23% of calories)
- sodium: 330mg
- Sour Cream Glazed Donut:
- calories: 320
- protein: 3g (4% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 40g (50% of calories)
- sugar: 23g
- fat: 16g (45% of calories)
- sodium: 220mg
- Vanilla Dip With Colored Sprinkles:
- calories: 250
- protein: 4g (6% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 44g (70% of calories)
- sugar: 22g
- fat: 6g (10% of calories)
- sodium: 210mg
- Strawberry Vanilla Donut:
- calories: 230
- protein: 5g (9% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 41g (71% of calories)
- sugar: 20g
- fat: 5g (20% of calories)
- sodium: 230mg
The healthier Tim Hortons donuts
Each of these donuts is lower in calories and contains less carbohydrates and sugar, when compared to the worst donuts:
- 180-200 calories compared to 230-320 calories
- 28-34g of carbohydrates compared to 40-53g of carbohydrates
So even though there is quite a difference between the donuts, I can’t really say that a Tim Hortons donut is healthy.
If you’re craving a donut, try these healthy donuts.
These are just the lesser of the two evils.
- Sugar Loop Donut:
- calories: 180
- protein: 4g (9% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 28g (62% of calories)
- sugar: 8g
- fat: 6g (30% of calories)
- sodium: 210mg
- Chocolate Dip Donut:
- calories: 200
- protein: 4g (8% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 34g (68% of calories)
- sugar: 13g
- fat: 6g (27% of calories)
- sodium: 210mg
- Maple Dip Donut:
- calories: 200
- protein: 4g (8% of calories)
- carbohydrates: 34g (68% of calories)
- sugar: 14g
- fat: 6g (27% of calories)
- sodium: 210mg
Now lets talk about the muffins.
The worst Tim Hortons muffins
2019 nutrition facts: chocolate chip muffin
- Calories: 420
- Protein: 6g (6% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 66g (63% of calories)
- Sugar: 35g
- Fiber: 2g
- Fat: 16g (34% of calories)
- Sodium: 330mg
If you want to go with a “healthier” muffin alternative, go with this.
The “healthier” Tim Hortons muffins
When I say “healthier”, I’m simply implying a muffin that is lower in calories.
2019 nutrition facts: wild blueberry muffin
- Calories: 340
- Protein: 5g (6% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 57g (67% of calories)
- Sugar: 25g
- Fiber: 2g
- Fat: 11g (29% of calories)
- Sodium: 430mg
Now lets get to the people who love bread, I’m referring to the Tim Hortons bagels.
The worst Tim Hortons bagels
2019 nutrition facts: maple cinnamon french toast bagel
- Calories: 350
- Protein: 10g (11% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 67g (77% of calories)
- Sugar: 15g
- Fiber: 2g
- Fat: 4g (10% of calories)
- Sodium: 540mg
Now lets get to the healthiest choice, if you need to get a bagel.
The healthiest Tim Hortons bagels
2019 nutrition facts: 12 grain bagel
- Calories: 330
- Protein: 10g (12% of calories)
- Carbohydrates: 55g (67% of calories)
- Sugar: 8g
- Fiber: 6g
- Fat: 9g (25% of calories)
- Sodium: 450mg
I choose this as the healthiest bagel at Tim Hortons because of the higher fiber count.
So that was my analysis of the healthiest foods at Tim Hortons and the worst
In my opinion, there were no really healthy options at Tim Hortons.
The Tim Hortons drinks, especially the apple cider and fruit smoothies, were the biggest disappointments.
No major surprises with the donuts and bagels, as they are what they are.
When it comes to the sandwiches, most of them were lower in protein, and the bread is probably made with soy and other sugars, that are not good for your body.
Even though nothing on the Tim Hortons menu stands out for being crazy high in calories, I would bet they are using low quality ingredients.
Plus, there are really no healthy alternatives as the salads are low in protein, so they probably will not fill you up.
I have to say I’m disappointed Tim Hortons.
Also, please add the ingredient information to your website.
When it comes to Tim Hortons, I would just say this.
Not good Tim Hortons
I hope you are enjoying this journey on finding the healthiest fast food alternatives.
To date, the food options at Wendy’s have been the best, but they also had the most unhealthy options as well.
So we’re going to keep this journey going, since many of you have asked for me to analyze other restaurants.
I’ll do my best to get to those in the upcoming weeks.
If you’re enjoying these fast food edition of Food Wars, please click the social media buttons to share this with your friends.
Subscribe to our Live Lean TV YouTube channel, and leave a comment down below if there are any other restaurants or anything else you would like to say.
I’ll be back tomorrow with another #LLTV Q&A session.
See you then.
Questions For You:
- What are your go-to fast food restaurants when you’re traveling?
- Do you have a favorite healthier fast food option?
Be sure to share your answers in the comment section below.
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Brad Gouthro is the founder of Live Lean TV, a media company focused on helping men and women “Live Lean” 365 days a year. Brad’s programs and content have helped millions of people all over the world learn how to get in shape, and more importantly, sustain it for life.
I don’t do any of the restaurants you’ve highlighted in this series, but am happy to share with my peeps (some of whom most likely do indulge!)
I am so glad I found your videos and your website. I have been enjoying your food wars shows. Wonder if you would do the Costco prepared foods? Not just the food court items but the take home things like shrimp salad, chicken salad, rotisserie chicken, hi rollers….
Also, I am working on a blog and would like to put a link to your videos and website. Do you have code somewhere for this?
Thanks Jennifer. If you’re looking to link to my website…just copy and paste my logo and hyperlink it. Regarding foods at Costco…anything that is prepackaged be sure to look at the ingredients. Usually if theres more than 5 ingredients and if you can’t pronounce the names…you should consume it.
I’ve never been to tim hortons but I’m glad I haven’t! I hate when chains don’t list nutrition facts still! It’s always something I check before going! I love the “real fruit smoothie” claim! It’s amazing how unhealthy smoothies can sometimes be! I much prefer to make my own because I know what’s in it!
Love your site! Just stumbles upon in today 🙂 ~ Love, Leanne
I’ve actually never been to a Tim Horton’s. Don’t think I ever will now! When I travel, I usually take a lot of snacks or go to an actual grocery store. Other than that, Subway usually wins.
Hey Angela, you may want to check out my Subway Food Wars…it’s been the most shocking one yet!
Woah. The smoothies!!! Sheeshk. I’m glad I listened to this video. What I personally love about Tims is that they have whole wheat options – not just white. Oh, and the chilli, which actually has a fair amount of fiber and protein…for fast food.