Drive-thru restaurants offer convenience and satisfying meals for children and adults, but often at the expense of quality nutrition. McDonald’s is known for burgers, fries, crispy chicken McNuggets and more. These foods may be delicious and satisfy your need for an easy meal, but these McDonald’s menus are high in calories, sodium, fat, sugar and saturated fat. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that some of the chain’s most popular menu items contain enough salt for almost an entire day.
Fast food restaurants aren’t known for their extensive menu of nutritious and calorie-conscious menus. So if you frequent the drive-thru and are particularly drawn to the Golden Arches charm, you might want to think twice about what you choose to order at McDonald’s. Highly processed foods, such as those served at most fast food restaurants, are scientifically associated with: weight gain May increase risk of other serious illnesses illness and health.
The good news is that there are still many things on the McDonald’s menu that work within a balanced diet. Here are some tips to help reduce the potential negative impact of your next McDonald’s order.
- Choose individual items instead of meals. This helps keep your calories and fat grams more reasonable.
- Avoid sugary drinks. These add significant calories and grams of sugar to your diet.
- Limit the sauces you use to avoid empty calories and keep ordering simple. For example, opt for a classic burger or cheeseburger instead of a Big Mac.
To ensure you’re getting a (somewhat) nutritious and healthy meal on your next drive-thru lap, you need to know what to avoid. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some of the most unhealthy orders you can order at McDonald’s. Keep reading to find out the 10 worst McDonald’s orders you’ve ever had. And if you need more healthy eating advice when visiting Mickey D’s, be sure to check out our 8 Healthiest McDonald’s Orders. to a nutritionist.
per hamburger: 590 Calories, 34 g Fat (11 g Saturated Fat, 1 g Trans Fat), 1,050 mg Sodium, 46 g Carbs (3 g Fiber, 9 g Carbs), 25 g Protein
600 calories per serving isn’t unreasonable this burger It contains 34 grams of fat, providing 44% of your daily intake.In addition, more than 30% of fat grams saturated fat, a nutrient that can adversely affect heart health. To save a few grams of calories and fat, omit the cheese and reduce the amount of sauce.
per order: 1,340 Calories, 63 g Fat (24 g Saturated Fat, 0.5 g Trans Fat), 2,070 mg Sodium, 158 g Carbs (5 g Fiber, 48 g Carbs), 36 g Protein
If you think the fat content of a Big Mac is alarming, this breakfast option Almost double the fat content! And at over 1,300 calories, this meal can give some people enough energy for an entire day. Unless you’re splitting this meal between several people, you’d better offer to cancel the order altogether. instead, hearty breakfast® Omitting the butter cuts the calories nearly in half.
per medium order: 490 Calories, 20 g Fat (13 g Saturated Fat, 1 g Trans Fat), 90 mg Sodium, 70 g Carbs (1 g Fiber, 62 g Carbs), 8 g Protein
Nearly 500 calories, This medium size coffee drink It could just be a meal. However, this drink is often enjoyed with meals, especially high-calorie meals.
This drink is high in fat and carbs, but perhaps the most shocking aspect of this drink is the sugar content. To put it into perspective, if you drank all the 62 grams of sugar in this drink, you’d be about 24% over your recommended daily sugar intake.Adding sugar may increase the risk of chronic It also includes diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even some cancers.
It’s best to limit your sugar intake as much as possible, but if you’re looking for a sweet coffee drink, opt for a smaller one. ice french vanilla latte It has 180 calories and 15 grams of added sugar.
per medium order: 650 Calories, 17 g Fat (11 g Saturated Fat, 1 g Trans Fat), 310 mg Sodium, 107 g Carbs (1 g Fiber, 85 g Carbs), 15 g Protein
Another drink that will definitely top your sugar needs for the day is Medium chocolate shake. Not only is this 170% of your recommended daily intake of sugar, but this shake has more calories than one serving. Sure, it has 15 grams of protein, which is enough for some meals, but anything over 100 grams of carbs is best avoided.
For a more affordable dessert option, go simple vanilla corn For just 200 calories.
per muffin: 440 Calories, 20 g Fat (3 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat), 330 mg Sodium, 60 g Carbs (2 g Fiber, 34 g Sugar), 5 g Protein
don’t add blueberries this pastry deceive you Contains similar calories, fat and sugar as donuts. With only 5 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber in this muffin, you won’t feel full for long. You’re better off opting for a more filling breakfast than eating pastries at McDonald’s. egg mac muffin®.
per sandwich: 550 Calories, 33 g Fat (13 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat), 1,290 mg Sodium, 44 g Carbs (3 g Fiber, 15 g Carbs), 19 g Protein
Known for its mild sweet maple flavor, McGriddles® It also contains a lot of sodium. This nutrient is essential large amount It can cause high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Current sodium intake recommendations recommend that an adult’s sodium intake be less than 2,300 mg per day. Consuming more than half that amount in this order will significantly reduce your daily intake. To reduce salt and calories in your breakfast, sausage mac muffin® Instead.
per hamburger: 740 Calories, 42 g Fat (20 g Saturated Fat, 2.5 g Trans Fat), 1,360 mg Sodium, 43 g Carbs (2 g Fiber, 10 g Carbs), 48 g Protein
Remember when I suggested keeping orders simple? This is a perfect example.going from regular Quarter Pounder® cheese To double Adds over 200 calories and 16 grams of fat to your diet. The next time you want a thick burger, opt for the Quarter Pounder.® For a 400-calorie meal, omit cheese.
per sandwich: 530 Calories, 26 g Fat (4 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat), 1,050 mg Sodium, 48 g Carbs (2 g Fiber, 10 g Carbs), 27 g Protein
You might think that chicken is automatically the better choice than hamburgers, and in some cases that may be true. But when it comes to this fried chicken sandwichprovides more than twice the calories as one serving. Classic McDonald’s burger.If you want to stick to chicken, go for regular McCrispy™ Better than deluxe version. You’ll only save about 60 calories with this switch, but with a lower fat content and roughly the same protein count, you’ll end up with a slightly healthier meal.
per bulk order: 480 Calories, 23 g Fat (3 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat), 400 mg Sodium, 65 g Carbs (6 g Fiber, 0 g Sugar), 7 g Protein
This may not come as a big surprise, but Large portion of McDonald’s French fries The entire meal contains enough calories. However, the sodium content of French fries is not as high as many burgers and sandwiches on McDonald’s menu.
If you want to satisfy your craving for French fries, order kids size, just set back 110 calories and 5 grams of fat. This portion can also complement a classic McDonald’s burger with moderate calories.
per sandwich: 530 Calories, 35 g Fat (15 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat), 1,190 mg Sodium, 38 g Carbs (2 g Fiber, 3 g Carbs), 17 g Protein
Another dietary option that provides nearly half of your daily fat grams in a single food is: egg sausage biscuits breakfast sandwiches. Unfortunately, omitting butter doesn’t improve calories and fat grams much. instead, sausage burrito Only 310 calories and 17 grams of fat.
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