The first McDonald's opened its doors in Des Plaines, Illinois in 1955, according to the McDonald's website. The restaurant focused on providing its customers with speedy service. Today, McDonald's continues to offer fast service with an extensive a la carte menu featuring hamburgers, French fries, chicken and salads. In addition to individual items, McDonald's also offers meal bundles to make ordering easy and increase your value. But many of these meal bundles contain high amounts of calories and fat.
Types
McDonald's offers three different types of meal bundles, including the Dollar Menu, Extra Value Meals and Happy Meals. Both the Dollar Menu and Extra Value Meals offer both breakfast and rest of the day options. Happy Meals are geared towards children and include a variety of food options.
Dollar Menu
The breakfast Dollar Menu features individual items including the sausage burrito, sausage McMuffin and an order of hash browns. The sausage burrito with a cup of black coffee may be your best choice on the breakfast Dollar Menu with 300 calories, 16 g of fat, 7 g of saturated fat, 830 mg of sodium, 12 g of protein and 26 g of carbohydrate. The rest of the day Dollar Menu also features a number of individual items including the McDouble, the McChicken, a small order of fries, yogurt parfait and a side salad. Create a low-cost meal that includes a McDouble and a side salad with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette that contains 450 calories, 22 g of total fat, 9 g of saturated fat, 1,660 mg of sodium, 40 g of carbohydrate and 23 g of protein.
Extra Value Meals
The breakfast Extra Value Meals feature a breakfast sandwich with a side of hash browns and a cup of coffee. The Egg McMuffin value meal may be your healthiest option with 450 calories, 22 g of total fat, 6 g of saturated fat, 1,120 mg of sodium, 45 g of carbohydrate and 19 g of protein. The rest of the day Extra Value Meals include a soda, sandwich and an order of fries. Sandwich choices range from a Big Mac to the grilled chicken classic and the Filet-O-Fish. The grilled chicken classic sandwich is the healthiest sandwich option. Nutrition information that includes an order of french fries and a diet soda provides 800 calories, 29 g of total fat, 4.5 g of saturated fat, 1,490 mg of sodium, 99 g of carbohydrate and 36 g of protein. You can save 50 calories on the sandwich if you omit the mayonnaise.
Happy Meal
Happy Meal options include a type of hamburger or chicken nugget, a choice of a beverage that includes a soft drink, juice or low-fat milk and a side of french fries or apple dippers. The healthiest Happy Meal option for your child is the Happy Meal featuring the four piece chicken nuggets, 1 percent fat milk and apple dippers. This meal contains 390 calories, 15 g of total fat, 4 g of saturated fat, 570 mg of sodium, 46 g of carbohydrate and 18 g of protein. The Happy Meal with the regular hamburger, 1 percent fat milk and apple dippers is another healthy option for your child with 450 calories, 12 g of total fat, 5 g of saturated fat, 680 mg of sodium, 66 g of carbohydrate and 20 g of protein.
Create Your Own Meal
Many of the meal deals at McDonald's are high in calories, fat and sodium. To help your weight and heart, you may be better off creating your own meals using the a la carte menu. A healthy meal option may include the classic grilled chicken sandwich with a side salad, low-fat balsamic vinaigrette and a diet soda with 480 calories, 13 g of total fat, 2.5 g of saturated fat, 1,930 mg of sodium, 58 g of carbohydrate and 33 g of protein. A small hamburger with a small order of french fries and a side salad with low-fat balsamic vinaigrette can also serve as another healthier meal option at McDonald's with 540 calories, 23 g of total fat, 5 g of saturated fat, 1,420 mg of sodium, 68 g of carbohydrate and 16 g of protein.
Considerations
Most of the items on the McDonald's menu are either high in fat or high in sodium, even when you try to create your own healthy option. High intakes of saturated fat increase your blood cholesterol levels and high intakes of sodium increase your blood pressure. When eating meals at McDonald's try to make the rest of your day's meals low in fat and sodium to help balance your intake.
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