McDonald's is an immensely popular fast food restaurant in America and around the world. In fact, according to Harper's Research, 7 percent of the U.S. population ate at a McDonald's restaurant each day last year. With so many people in America eating at McDonald's so often, and the obesity level in America quickly increasing, some people are beginning to speculate that the high-calorie and high-fat choices at McDonald's are contributing to the obesity epidemic. McDonald's offers a variety of menu items, some healthy and some unhealthy.
Big Mac
The Big Mac is a famous McDonald's hamburger that has several layers of meat and cheese. Each Big Mac has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat, 25 g of protein and 45 g of carbohydrates, plus 1,040 mg of sodium and 10 g of saturated fat. Other burgers such as a regular hamburger or regular cheeseburger at McDonald's have fewer calories and fat than the Big Mac.
French Fries
The smell of McDonald's french fries is instantly recognizable by almost anyone in America. McDonald's is famous for the crispy, delicious flavor of its fries, as well as the large portions. A large serving of french fries has 500 calories, 25 g of total fat, 63 g of carbohydrates and 6 g of protein. McDonald's says its fries do not have any trans fat, but the large serving of french fries has 3.5 g of saturated fat.
Chicken McNuggets
According to the McDonald's website, a four-piece serving of its Chicken McNuggets has 190 calories, 12 g of total fat (2 g saturated, no trans fat) 11 g of carbohydrates and 10 g of protein, plus 400 mg of sodium and 30 mg of cholesterol. The various dipping sauces such as barbecue sauce and sweet and sour sauce add extra calories, mostly in sugars and starch.
Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait
The fruit 'n yogurt parfait at McDonald's contains real fruit and is often eaten as a snack food. It is generally a healthier choice than getting a burger or fries. For example, a 7 oz. fruit 'n yogurt parfait has only 160 calories and 2 g of fat, with 31 g of carbohydrates, which come from the yogurt, fruit and granola, and 4 g of protein in each 7 oz. serving.
Salad
McDonald's has a variety of flavorful salads such as the Premium Southwestern Salad with grilled or crispy chicken. Without dressing and with grilled chicken, it has 320 calories, 9 g of fat, 11 g of protein and 30 g of carbohydrates. Substituting crispy instead of grilled chicken adds 120 extra calories, 11 more g of fat, 8 more g of carbohydrates and 1 extra gram of protein. Adding salad dressing will add anywhere from 40 to 190 calories more, depending on the type of dressing. McDonald's salads are available with low fat dressing choices such as low fat balsamic vinaigrette or full fat choices such as Ranch dressing.
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