# How bad for you is a plain McDonald's burger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199 "2007-01-08T20:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/81 "2007-01-11T22:35:58Z")
[QUOTE=scotandrsn] What’s the methodology and source data of your barbecue calculator, and is _it_ the same as McDonalds? if you can’t say either, then your contradiction doesn’t carry an ounce more certainty than my assertion, [/quote] I agree - neither comparison is credible, and that is my point. Since I am not claiming that a homemade burger has more fat than a McDonald’s burger, the methodology is not important. What is important is that different methodologies yield different results. To truly make an accurate side-by-side comparison of nutritional content in 2 different burgers, you would have to ascertain that the methodology was identical in both cases. You haven’t even come close to doing that. Cherry-picking a particular website because it happens to support your agenda is misleading. > [@](#): > > and I’ll stand by my figures. That is an irrational stance. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/82 "2007-01-11T22:55:28Z")
And another thing… [QUOTE=scotandrsn] I find my source more credible than **lowbrass** ’, and I’ve invited him to convince me otherwise. [/quote] Leaving aside what I just pointed out - that the issue is not how _credible_ the methodology is, but rather whether it is the _same_ as that used by McDonalds… How are you concluding that your source is “credible”? Are you basing that on the pathetic statement you linked to earlier? > [@](#): > > We have compiled [Calorie-Count.com](http://Calorie-Count.com) from public records - manufacturers’ info, food packages, and individual submissions. That says nothing about their methodology. It’s almost tautological, like saying, “We get our information from information”. There are a million things that could change the amount of fat measured in a cooked piece of ground beef, including how thick the patty is, how long it is cooked, the temperature of the grill, how you pick it up to put it on the bun, etc. It’s patently absurd for you to claim that you know for a fact that every factor was accounted for and controlled in the same way for both sources, based only on that pathetic non-statement you linked to. Absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/83 "2007-01-11T23:48:00Z")
To answer a couple of questions posed here:[ul][_]McDonald’s did not oil the grills when I worked there some 26 years ago. Of course, it’s possible that such things have changed, but I don’t think so[_]We were told that the buns are indeed higher in sugar than is usual so that they would caramelize in the toaster and therefore resist getting soggy when the condiments and “juicy” (more accurately, “greasy”) burger was put on it. Anecdotally, someone who works for a local company that makes various brands of bread under license told me that some of the commercial buns sold in grocery stores, particularly the “lower end” products, are actually just as high in sugar.[_]Way back then, hamburger and Big Mac patties were called 10:1, because there was ten of them to the pound, or 1.6 oz each. I believe that is still the same today[_]The grill seasoning is (or was) simply salt and pepper. We used to mix it ourselves, although I don’t doubt that it’s premixed nowadays.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![SassyDad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@SassyDad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SassyDad)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/84 "2015-04-07T00:34:27Z")
I asked my doctor if eating a hamburger was bad for my health. He told me that it wasn’t the hamburger that was the problem, but all the junk you end up eating with it like fries and shakes. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/85 "2015-04-07T00:44:28Z")
The problems with zombie burgers is one needs to kill them first. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/86 "2015-04-07T01:10:31Z")
zombie or no shakes and fries aren’t a problem either. reasonable quantities of a balanced diet is good for you. you decide how to ingest it. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/87 "2015-04-07T01:14:32Z")
Recently (in the past few days) read a study of fast food vs. ‘health’ food that physically active people may ingest. I am looking for that to post. The gist of it is that McD’s is as good as protein shakes and energy bars. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/88 "2015-04-07T01:16:40Z")
Refined flour and red meat; two bad things. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/89 "2015-04-07T01:31:34Z")
Nothing is bad for you in moderation. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/90 "2015-04-07T03:18:12Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Nothing is bad for you in moderation. In any amount. If you eat nothing, you will die. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/91 "2015-04-07T10:20:27Z")
This reminds me of a task I do in (ESL - English as a Foreign Language) class when we’re first talking about food vocabulary (I imagine this would also work with young English speakers). If I know they’ll be able to come up with a decent list (upper-elementary+ learners) I’ll draw two columns on the board, one headed ‘Good Foods’ and the other ‘Bad Foods’. The ‘Bad’ will have the usual suspects; burgers, pizza, soda, chocolate, KFC, sugar… The ‘Good’ will have vegetables, oranges, bananas, potatoes, rice, etc. I know, _I know_ that isn’t strictly true, but bear with me. Then I’ll ask them "Okay, now how do you put ALL of the ‘Good’ foods on the ‘Bad’ side and ALL of the ‘Bad’ foods on the good side? This will regularly be met with blank or quizzical stares, but rarely an answer. Then I write, across both columns, ‘Amount’ or ‘Quantity’ and tell them to look up the word if they don’t know it. It takes a while but I think most understand the concept of moderation by the end of that class (any struggling usually will understand if I tell them to go out and eat 1,000 apples). I’ll also, if time and maturity of the students permit, show _Supersize Me_ with English and/or their L1 (First Language) subtitles, as needed. Personally, I don’t like McDonald’s or other fast food producers’ employment practices, abuse of animal husbandry, marketing gimmicks, or general negligence of their customers’ health or well-being. I’ll be open with my students and say ‘I don’t like/trust McDonald’s _et al_ and only eat fast food once or twice a month’. I think I present a fairly strong case although I don’t do much more than I’ve said - i.e. I don’t think I preach to them, but the countries I teach / have taught in generally have much less exposure to modern fast food, so I considering it giving them a friendly ‘Heads Up’. As to the OP my (biased) answer is that you know, if you make a burger at home, what’s going into it. If you’ve gone to the butcher’s or meat counter and asked for the beef cubes to be ground up, then made the burgers yourself from the freshest ingredients you can find, it will (almost) always be healthier and will ALWAYS be tastier than some processed, frozen, lump of ‘cow parts’ mechanically recovered/reclaimed, transported and cooked by someone on minimum wage. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/92 "2015-04-07T11:28:04Z")
> [@scotandrsn](#): > > the 1200 calories recommended for women. 1200 calories for women, you say? That’s just nuts. First of all, age, weight, and activity level all influence caloric needs. So there’s no one value that applies. Secondly, whatever the average is, it’s gotta be higher than 1200 calories. That’s serious weight-losing territory for most people. I use this site whenever I need to lose a few pounds, and it has never steered me wrong:[BMR Calculator](http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) According to that site,a 5’4" woman, aged 35, weight 120 pounds, with a moderate activity level, needs 2035.615 calories/day to maintain. A 5’2" woman, aged 40, weight 115 pounds, with a light activity level, needs 1730.64 calories. A 5’7" woman, aged 55, weight 135, whoi s very active, needs 2240.171 calories a day to maintain. As for me, I lose weight if I consume under 1800 calories a day - and I am 56, moderately active, and currently weight 115. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/93 "2015-04-07T15:56:33Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > 1200 calories for women, you say? Yes he did. And was corrected. And recanted. Seven years ago. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/94 "2015-04-07T17:05:03Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > There’s nothing wrong with a McDonald’s hamburger, even with the condiments. The meat is ordinary, if cheaper, cuts of beef and the buns are white bread and no worse than what you’d get in the bread isle of your local supermarket. There may be some preservatives and flavor enhancers, but you’ll find those in nearly all processed foods. In other words, even if you make a hamburger at home, it’s not going to be any better for you than one from McD’s. Right. There’s nothing wrong with even a Big Mac. There \*is \*something wrong with two big macs each with large fries and a couple quarts of Coke to wash it down. This has even more issues if you eat it several times a week. With all the fresh stuff\*, likely IN&OUT is one of the best, but I wouldn’t suggest eating even there more than once a week. Consider fast food something to eat once or twice a month. Trip food, gotta eat something NOW food. Not a regular meal. - they will happily add extra tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/95 "2015-04-07T17:11:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > As I recall the movie **Supersize Me** , he did not “gorge himself” at every meal. Instead, he would only eat what was sold at McD’s (and I believe he had some rule about not repeating things too often or ordering all the various things on the menu.) But anytime he was asked if he would like to “supersize” his order, he would accept - which I understand was getting at the marketing tactics. But it isn’t as tho he went in there and ordered 2-3 Big Macs and multiple orders of fries, ice cream and a cherry pie for every meal. Spurlock lied. His facts are doubtful, he refused to release his food diary. His experiment can’t be repeated. [http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/naughton-spurlock-lied-in-super-size-me-ignored-negative-impact-of-carbs/2171](http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/naughton-spurlock-lied-in-super-size-me-ignored-negative-impact-of-carbs/2171) > **[Famous Documentaries That Were Shockingly Full of Crap](https://www.cracked.com/article_20585_6-famous-documentaries-that-were-shockingly-full-crap.html)** > > It turns out that some of the most acclaimed documentaries ever are about as real as 'Borat.' _Here’s the thing: No one has been able to replicate Spurlock’s results, and even basic math disputes the claim that his McDiet consisted of 5,000 calories a day._ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/96 "2015-04-07T17:17:36Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Nothing is bad for you in moderation. You ask for nothing, and you shall receive it. In abundance! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/97 "2015-04-07T23:32:18Z")
> [@naita](#): > > Yes he did. And was corrected. And recanted. Seven years ago. HAH! That doesn’t usually happen to me, but obviously it did this time. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/98 "2015-04-08T13:54:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > 1200 calories for women, you say? > [@naita](#): > > Yes he did. And was corrected. And recanted. Seven years ago. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > HAH! That doesn’t usually happen to me, but obviously it did this time. the consequences of burger poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/99 "2015-04-09T13:19:44Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > You ask for nothing, and you shall receive it. > > In abundance! No! We just talked about this, Frank! Everything _in moderation_. That includes nothing! ---
**Author:** ![emk15](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5f9b8f/32.png) [@emk15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emk15)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199/100 "2015-11-03T05:55:51Z")
In theory, no. A single hamburger from Mcdonald’s is no worse or different than a homemade hamburger. In fact, I would even go as far as saying the cooking method for the beef is healthier. How do I know this? I work at McDonald’s! The buns are sourced from local manufacturers and are just like you would buy in a supermarket. No oil, butter etc., is added to a hamburger bun. They’re simply toasted. The sauces are only ketchup and mustard. Pretty normal tbh. The beef is actually 100% PREMIUM beef. McD’s did away with the ‘crappy meat cuts’ quite a while ago now. It may be different in other countries, but in NZ McD’s uses premium beef for all their beef patties. They’re cooked on a grill with NO oil. It’s quite a nifty technique! So, really - there’s no nasties lurking here at all! Then there’s the pickles - standard again. And the recon/rehydrated onion. In reality, any food eaten in excess is not a balanced diet. But a plain McD’s hamburger is not different to a ham sandwich. Think about it. 2 thick slices of bread: 200cal. A dollop of mayo? 50+ cal. Add some butter: 40cal. Perhaps several slices of ham, chicken (50g) etc. : 95cal. The humble sandwich turns out to be worse sometimes. As stated above, its the fizzy drinks, milkshakes and fries that make the meal unhealthy. Although, in Australasia, we don’t use beef fat for anything fried, only vegetable oil. If anything, the burgers are just a different form of ‘cooked’ sandwich 🙂 Everything in moderation! Life’s too short! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-for-you-is-a-plain-mcdonalds-burger/387199.md?page=6)