McDonald’s has a major advertising blitz going on for its new third-pound sirloin burger. Emphasizing the use of sirloin positions the burger as better somehow, at least that’s what McDonald’s must be hoping.
McDonald’s third-pound sirloin burger has too much salt and fat for me to eat it.
McDoanld’s is a difficult place to get anything low-salt, low-fat or low-sugar. These days all I eat there are salads and yogurt parfaits. The parfaits have come in for criticism for being high in sugar. The salads have a lot of salt, and an impossible amount if you add any of the dressing supplied, so I usually bring my own vinegar and oil packets instead.
I’m not the only one eating there less, Millennials who grew up with Ronald are turning away in droves. The Big Mac seems to be getting the message and is moving as fast as a major company can to change some things. I applaud the changes and say do more, more quickly, now.
McDonald’s planned artisan chicken sandwich, with fewer harmful ingredients.
A major recent change was announced for its chicken. “The biggest change is the removal of sodium phosphates, which it said was used to keep the chicken moist, in favor of vegetable starch. The new recipe also does not use maltodextrin, which McDonald’s said is generally used as a sugar to increase browning or as a carrier for seasoning,” reported Fox News, and other outlets, recently.
Anything to cut sodium is great for me. A McChicken sandwich at the moment has 650 mgs of sodium, about half what I can eat a day, which is why I never buy one.
McDonald’s new Artisan chicken also will be cooked in an olive oil blend instead of margarine, according to another report. That can only help as well.
“McDonald’s new grilled chicken sandwich recipe has been introduced in response to consumer demands for simple ingredients, the company said. By removing artificial ingredients consumers are not familiar with, the company is making an effort to simplify their recipes and respond to increasing demands for natural foods,” reported Olive Oil Times.
Burger King is getting a lot of media attention for its new Satisfries, which it touts as being lower in fat than the leading brand (i.e. McDonald’s) and than its own regular fries.
How much lower? A small order of Satisfries has 11 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of saturated fat compared with 17 grams and 2.5 grams of saturated in a small order of BK’s regular fries. Looking at a large order, which in the old days would have been what I purchased, a large Satisfries has 17 grams of fat and 2,5 grams of saturated fat compared with 22 grams and 3.5 grams of saturated in a large regular fry. Continue reading “How much fat is in Burger King’s new Satisfries?”→
Burger King’s new Satisfries, are getting a lot of media attention for being lower in fat than the competition’s (i.e. McDonald’s) and than Burger King’s normal fries.
But what about the sodium levels of the new offering? Media attention has focused on fat, but sodium for most fast food fries is off the charts. Burger King’s regular fries, for example, have 710 mgs of sodium on them, about half of my daily allowance of 1,200-1,500 mgs. That one reason I don’t eat fast food any longer, except for the occasional salad to which I add my own oil and vinegar to avoid high-sodium dressings.Continue reading “How much salt is in Burger King’s new Satisfries?”→
McDonald’s has been getting a lot of advertising mileage out of its new Premium McWraps, touting them as healthy offerings. But how healthy are they if you’re on a restricted diet, specifically if you’re on a no-salt diet as I am?
Unfortunately, not very, according to nutrition information on the McDonald’s website. A premium chicken McWrap with grilled chicken and ranch sauce has 1,130 mgs of sodium. I’m not supposed to have more than about 1,200 mgs a day, so one of these new McWraps would be a day’s salt for me. That’s unacceptable, and should be for you too if you’re watching your salt. Order it without the cheese, and you’re still at 1,030 mgs, still way too high. Leave off the ranch sauce and you’re down to 930 mgs, still more than half a day’s sodium.
Please McDonald’s, I want to be able to eat at your places again, you’re everywhere, no place is more convenient for a quick lunch. But all I can order these days is a side salad without any dressing. I carry my own oil and vinegar to avoid your high-sodium dressings. Please get the salt out.
The nutrition nazi I saw to shape my new healthy eating plan post-angioplasty minced no words about it, there is no healthy way to eat out. Restaurant food has too much of everything that’s bad for me, salt, sugar and fat.
Yet I eat lunch out every day of the workweek and some weekend days as well. I need that time away from my office to break the daily routine and clear my head. So my lunches have become pretty much nothing but salads.
I normally eat at the food court in Chicago’s mammoth Merchandise Mart building, which is only a block from my office. It has an Arby’s, a McDonald’s, a Japanese fast sushi place, a Mexican place, a pizza place, a Mideastern fast food place and a place with a build-your-own salad bar. The build your own salad place has become pretty much my daily stop.
A McDonald’s chicken salad
My usual salad has field greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, red quinoa, dried cranberries, a chicken breast, celery, garbanzo beans, and beets. Several of those items may actually be on my forbidden list, dried cranberries have sugar, for example, but I’m hoping the small number each day are ok so I have some flavor. I bypass all the dressings there and bring my own individual packets of olive oil and vinegar that I bought in bulk on Amazon.
Using Lose It!, a calorie counting and nutrition app for my iPhone, I put the calorie count for that at 521 calories. I bring along a 32-ounce bottle of water from my office because I detest paying for small bottles of water. Continue reading “Why is Lunch My Toughest Meal of the Day?”→
The No Salt, No Fat, No Sugar Journal 