While there’s nothing wrong with getting your fast food fix every once in a while, no one’s really pulling into the drive-thru expecting to get a healthy, nutritious meal. But new research is reminding us why we don’t want to eat that kind of comfort food on the regular. A new study reveals the healthiest and the unhealthiest burgers from fast food chains.
- Researchers analyzed the nutritional value of five classic fast food items - a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich, regular fries, a regular vanilla shake and 10-piece chicken nuggets - from 24 chains.
- They used each chain’s nutritional menu to find out the calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium content in the items. Then the team used the Department of Health’s nutrient profiling method to determine the “relative unhealthiness” of each item.
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According to their research, the cheeseburger at Five Guys is the unhealthiest fast food cheeseburger, thanks to its 984 calories, 26.5 grams of saturated fat, 8 grams of sugar and 1050 milligrams of sodium in each burger. Five Guys also has the least healthy fries of any chain, while Popeyes is home to the unhealthiest chicken sandwich with their Chicken Sandwich Classic , as well as the unhealthiest chicken nuggets, and Fatburger has the unhealthiest shake.
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The Most Unhealthy Cheeseburgers At Fast Food Chains:
1. Five Guys’ Cheeseburger
2. Whataburger’s Jalapeno & Cheese Whataburger
3. Smashburger Classic Smash
4. Carl’s Jr’s Famous Star with Cheese
5. Sonic’s Cheeseburger
6. Wendy’s Dave’s Single
7. Shake Shack’s Single Cheeseburger
8. Fat Burger’s Medium “Original” Fatburger
9. Steak & Shake’s Single with Cheese
10. In-N-Out Burger’s Cheeseburger with Onion
So, which burger is the healthiest? Culver’s Butterburger, which clocks in with 390 calories, 7 grams of saturated fat, 6 grams of sugar and 480 milligrams of saturated fat. McDonald’s cheeseburger is a close second. Mickey D's also had the least unhealthy chicken nuggets. Now, just because something is the least unhealthy doesn't mean they are necessarily healthy. However, the experts will tell you to give into your cravings, just don't do it every day. We all know the old adage...."everything in moderation." For more, check out Delish.
Most unhealthy burgers in the U.S.Getty Images
