6 Worst Fast-Food Burgers (and What You Should Eat Instead!)

6 Worst Fast-Food Burgers (and What You Should Eat Instead!)


By David Zinczenko, with Matt Goulding - Posted on Thu, Dec 17, 2009, 11:56 am PST

A hamburger isn't, by itself, a terrible nutritional choice. Topped with some lettuce and tomato, ketchup, and mustard—and placed in a relatively small bun—a burger is a high-protein treat that shouldn't pack too much fat or too many calories. But just as country music went from skinny little Hank Williams playing honky-tonks to Garth Brooks touring stadiums—and just as baseball went from wiry Jackie Robinson stealing home to muscle-bound Barry Bonds stealing homers—so have our burgers evolved from lean and simple to very fat and complicated. How hard has it become to decode the once-simple hamburger? Get a load of these. With Eat This, Not That! 2010 we've unearthed the biggest fast-food burger bombs in America, and offer reasonable and delicious alternatives.


Worst Cheeseburger with Everything - Wendy’s Double with Everything and Cheese
700 calories 40 g fat (17 g saturated, 2 g trans) 1,440 mg sodium

In the pantheon of fast-food burgers, this cannot compete with the atrocities wrought by the Double Whoppers and Six Dollar Burgers of the world. But there are too many burgers at Wendy’s to end up with this mistake. Take the Double Stack below—with small chili—for example. With 37 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, it might be the most satisfying $2 meal in America.

Bonus tip: Find out which Wendy’s burger meal made our list of the 39 Healthiest Foods in America.

Eat This Instead!
Double Stack with Small Chili 550 calories - 24 g fat (10.5 g saturated, 1 g trans)
1,640 mg sodium

Worst Burger and Fries
In-N-Out Burger Hamburger and French Fries
790 calories - 37 g fat (10 g saturated) - 895 mg sodium

You’re heading into dangerous territory whenever you add fries to your order at In-N-Out. Sure, they’re trans-fat-free, but that won’t protect you from the 400 greasy, gut-bloating calories they carry. Instead, skip the fries and get serious about your burger. In-N-Out was offering up the low-carb treat long before other restaurants started making money off the Atkins craze. Take advantage of their prescience—and the 150-calorie savings—by simply tacking the phrase “protein style” onto your order.

Bonus tip: Another way to shed pounds quickly? Download Eat This, Not That! to your iPhone. It's like having your own personal nutritionist (and details on 30,000 foods) at your fingertips!

Eat This Instead!
Protein Style Double-Double with grilled onion, ketchup, and mustard
440 calories - 30 g fat (16 g saturated) - 1,080 mg sodium


Worst Plain Cheeseburger
Five Guys Cheeseburger (plain) - 840 calories - 55 g fat (22.5 g saturated) - 1,050 mg sodium

Even if you get the regular (i.e., bi-pattied) cheeseburger naked, you’ll still be taking in more than 250 calories and 20 grams of fat extra over the seemingly decadent bacon and sauteed mushroom burger. That’s because what Five Guys calls a “Little Burger,” healthy people call a “normal burger.” Plus, if you limit yourself to a single beef patty, you can get away with a couple of indulgent toppings like cheese or bacon.

Eat This Instead!
Little Bacon Burger with Sauteed Mushrooms and A1 Steak Sauce
575 calories - 33 g fat (14.5 g saturated) - 920 mg sodium


Worst Burger Brand
Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Burger - 890 calories - 54 g fat (20 g saturated, 2 g trans)
2,040 mg sodium

What’s scary about the basic Six Dollar Burger is that with the exception of the bunless version, this is the leanest of the Six Dollar Burgers. That’s not a compliment—the rest of the line is just trashed beyond repair with egregious piles of bacon, guacamole, and teriyaki sauce. When at Carl’s, choose a Big Hamburger instead. Sure it’s big, but it’s not so big that you’re going to have to spend the next 3 days recovering. In fact, kids’ burgers aside, this is the only hamburger offered that won’t cost you in excess of 500 calories.
Eat This Instead!
Big Hamburger
460 calories - 17 g fat (8 g saturated, 0.5 g trans) 1,090 mg sodium


Worst “Original” Burger
Hardee’s Original Thickburger (1/3 lb)
910 calories - 64 g fat (21 g saturated) - 1,560 mg sodium

Shockingly, this is one of the least offensive of the Thickburgers. If you really need 1/3 pound of meat for lunch, make it the low-carb version and save yourself 490 calories. Or, choose a Double Cheeseburger, instead. It’s far from a model of sound nutrition, but the same could be said of Hardee’s itself. So if you want a burger with substance, you need to
settle for the lesser of many evils.

Bonus tip: Find out which burgers and other fast-food favorites we picked on our must-see list of Top Swaps for Weight Loss.

Eat This Instead!
Double Cheeseburger
510 calories - 26 g fat (5 g saturated) - 1,120 mg sodium


Worst Fast-Food Cheeseburger in America
Burger King Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese and Mayo 1,250 calories - 84 g fat (32 g saturated, 3.5 g trans) - 1,600 mg sodium

This Triple Whopper is triple trouble. You could remove two patties and still be looking at more calories than you should tussle with in one sitting. And the fact that it’s got more trans fat than you should eat in a day only adds insult to injury. The problem with BK burgers is that not a single one comes without the heart-harming trans-fatty acids, despite their long-standing promise to (someday) make their menu trans-fat-free. Your best bet when dealing with the King is to choose a chicken sandwich instead.

Eat This Instead!
Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich with Mayo
490 calories - 21 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans) - 1,220 mg sodium

Top 5 Habits to Increase Longevity

By Dr. Maoshing Ni - Posted on Tue, Dec 18, 2007, 6:12 pm PST

Is it really possible for anyone to live happily to 100? The good news is that your body was designed to be 100 - you just have to get out of the way. Getting out of the way means taking an honest look at the habits and lifestyle you are living with today. Most of us have developed habits that limit our true health potential.But don't let these bad habits of the past discourage you - it is never too late to make new choices. What you did in the past can be changed, and your body will respond in kind. What matters is what you do from this moment forward.

Top 5 Daily Habits for Your Longevity
It takes 14 to 21 days of repetitive behavior to form a new pattern in your brain. Once the pattern is formed, it becomes an automatic behavioral response. As you develop new healthy habits, they will begin to replace bad habits. These healthy lifelong habits are adapted straight from the time-tested traditions practiced by centenarians all around the world, and I can say with certainty that they will transform and rejuvenate you!

Eat five small meals a day.
In the Western culture, meals are taken three times a day, but it is much
better to eat five smaller meals. When you eat smaller portions five times a day, you deliver a steady stream of nutrients, blood sugar, and energy to your body throughout the day. Additionally, eating this way is less taxing on the digestive and metabolic systems and also reduces your risk of heart disease.

Climb the stairs instead of using elevators.
The health benefits of a daily exercise program cannot be stressed enough.
Regular exercise can help promote physiological well-being, strengthen the immune system, maintain joint mobility, increase energy - and the list goes on. Look for opportunities all through your day to work in physical activity. Power-walk, run, or ride your bike instead of driving. Begin a daily tai chi practice. Join a gym and actually go! Practice safely and watch your health results pile up.

Laugh it up!
We know from research that laughter and joy boost immune functions, especially the production of the natural killer cells that help protect the body from illness and cancer. Laughter also increases the release of endorphins, compounds that give you a sense of well-being, in your brain. Without a doubt, joyful people live longer and healthier lives.

Drink 8 glasses of water every day.
Water is essential for all healthy body functions. Centenarians from around
the globe cite their native water as the source of their health and longevity - and the scientists agree with them. What they all have in common is pure water sources located far from any city, free from chemicals and toxins. Choose filtered water; the best filtration processes are the ones that use activated charcoal, which removes the impurities but leaves the water-soluble minerals. Also, do not store water in plastic containers because the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can leach into the water.

Unwind with meditation.
Stress is the root cause of most of the diseases that shorten our life span. In our modern society stress will continue to increase - unless you find techniques to manage it. Meditation is the best way to release tension and revitalize your being. It teaches you to breath properly, which is critical for eliminating up to 70% of your body's toxins and wastes. It also quiets your mind, lowers your stress hormones, and teaches self-discipline, which is a necessary attribute to achieving your health and longevity goals.

Try this beginning meditation:
Sit comfortably on a chair or the floor. Breathe naturally and close your eyes. Each time a thought appears, put it inside a balloon and let it fly up into the sky and disappear. Do this until the thoughts are exhausted. After a bit, your body will feel very light, and your mind will become still. The first few times it may take a while, but it will get easier and faster with practice.

I hope you use these healthy habits for years to come! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

-Dr. Mao