Nutrition Facts For Small Fast Food Fries

Crisp, golden french fries are tasty, inexpensive and readily available, and chances are you're one of the millions who eats them on a regular basis. They're not known as junk food without reason, though. French fries are considered an empty-calorie food, because they're high in calories but low in nutritional value. Enjoy french fries only as an occasional treat.

Calories

French fries are a calorie-dense food. A small order of french fries weighs just 2.5 oz. but contains 230 calories, according to nutrition data published on the McDonald's website. Fat contributes 100 of the total calories, and carbohydrates provide the other 130. Frying is the reason for the high calorie content. A medium baked potato weighs approximately 6 oz. and contains just 160 calories.

Unhealthy Fats

French fries are deep-fried in oils that commonly contain saturated fats and trans fats, which raise your LDL cholesterol and are linked with heart disease and other chronic diseases. Health experts recommend limiting saturated fat to 10 percent of your total daily calories, according to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention. A small order of McDonald's fries contains 1.5 g of saturated fat, or 8 percent of the daily value for a 2,000-calorie diet. Trans-fats are considered even more dangerous to your cardiovascular health than saturated fats, but the use of these industrially made fats is lessening due to pressure from health researchers, medical professionals and the public. A small order of McDonald's fries doesn't contain any trans fat; however, many restaurants continue to use it for deep frying.

High-Glycemic Carbohydrates

French fries are made from white potatoes and have a high glycemic index, a measurement of how fast a food is digested and turned into blood sugar compared with pure glucose. When you eat french fries, your blood sugar spikes rapidly and prompts your pancreas to pump out insulin to bring it back down. This cycle places heavy demands on your insulin-producing cells and may lead to insulin resistance, a disorder that increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The Harvard School of Public Health recommends eating potatoes only occasionally, or ditching them completely and getting your carbohydrates from healthful whole grains and beans instead.

Vitamins, Minerals and Fiber

French fries are low in nutrients compared to the amount of calories they provide, but they do contain some. A small order of McDonald's french fries contains 3 g of protein; 3 g of fiber, or 12 percent of the daily recommended amount for a 2,000-calorie diet; 8 percent of the recommended amount of vitamin C; and 4 percent of the recommended amount of iron.