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Three popular McDonald’s items are ‘least unhealthy’ among top fast foods, claims report
Fast foods are generally considered bad for health, and a new report outlines specific menu items from various American restaurants with little nutritional value.
Highly processed foods are detrimental to your health. Several studies have established the harmful effects of ultra-processed foods, including a reduced lifespan. Therefore, you may want to pick your favorites carefully if you’re a fan of fast food.
Three McDonald’s menu items are ‘least unhealthy’
Fast food is best avoided if you’re focused on healthy living. While it isn’t easy to not give in to your cravings, you can always weigh your options.
So, to help people make better dietary choices, PlushCare analyzed the nutritional value of some of the most popular menu items offered by American fast food chains, including Five Guys, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Shake Shack, and others.
The telehealth platform considered five popular fast food items across leading U.S. restaurants and measured their nutritional values. They took into account the calories, saturated fat, sugar, and sodium in dishes such as French fries, nuggets (10 pieces), cheeseburgers, and vanilla shakes.
They added up the total points of each product to measure the “unhealthiness score”, which was least in McDonald’s menu items – McChicken, Vanilla Shake, and McNuggets.
While McDonald’s McChicken got 14 points on the “unhealthiness score”, McNuggets stands at 18. Whereas, their Vanilla Shake was ranked lowest with 26 points. However, the report warns: “While the McChicken is significantly less unhealthy than other fast-food chicken burgers, it is still high in sodium, fat, and calories.”
Burger King’s Cheeseburger is also ranked as “least unhealthy” compared to others with 18 points, while Five Guys’ Cheeseburger got the highest “unhealthiness score” with 50 points.
Fast foods with least nutritional values
As far as more junk foods are considered, French fries at Five Guys got a high unhealthiness score, too, with 28 points. Whereas, In-N-Out’s French fries are the least unhealthy with 6 points.
Vanilla Shakes at Fatburger received 63 points, while Smash Burger’s beverage came last on the unhealthiness scale with 27 points.
Nuggets are most people’s favorite and a must in every fast-food meal. But the same dish can have different effects on your health depending on where it’s bought.
The report claims that 8 pieces of Popeyes got 30 points, and 10 pieces of the same item from KFC were given 19 points, the next “least unhealthy” item after McNuggets.
As PlushCare’s report writes, avoiding fast food altogether due to food pricing is hard, but being informed of their nutritional values will help customers make healthier choices.
