Dear readers,
Burger lovers out there will enjoy today’s column! Our question comes from Max in Barrie, who writes, “I liked your advice on dieting. I don’t want to diet. Instead, I’m trying to replace unhealthy foods in my diet with healthier ones but I’m a bit stuck as I don’t think I can live without burgers! Are homemade burgers significantly healthier than the take-out ones? I don’t mind making something at home. How do I do a really healthy and tasty burger at home? Should I go with the beyond meat burgers (tried, didn’t mind the taste) or real beef? It has to have ketchup. Please tell me it can have ketchup!”
So today we’re going to deconstruct a few popular fast food burgers for their nutritional and taste profile and determine what we can do to improve on them at home, from the patty to the condiments to the bun.
How unhealthy are fast food burgers?
Let’s start with McDonalds. Their Big Mac contains two 100 per cent beef patties, special sauce, shredded lettuce, processed cheese, sliced pickles, and shredded onions on a three-piece sesame seed bun. (Still can’t do that without hearing that song in my head!)
McDonalds claims the 100 per cent beef patty has no fillers and is seasoned with only salt and pepper. I can find no reliable information on any further ingredients or the processing of their meat. To be sure, it’s not sustainably raised, grass fed beef. The meat for McDonalds burgers are coming from commercial factory cattle operations. To better understand the problems with factory farming, you can go to the ASPCA website or the Human Canada website (there are no shocking videos or disturbing images). Factory farming is considered to be the No. 1 cause of animal abuse worldwide. And it doesn’t have to be this way.
The bun ingredients are: Enriched flour (leached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or canola oil, contains 2 per cent or less: salt, wheat gluten, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (may contain one or more of: sodium stearoyl lactylate, DATEM, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide), sorbic acid, calcium propionate and/or sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin, sesame seed.
The cheese ingredients are: Milk, cream, water, cheese culture, sodium citrate, contains 2 per cent or less of: salt, citric acid, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, sodium pyrophosphate, natural flavour (dairy source), colour added, soy lecithin (added for slice separation).
The special sauce ingredients are: soybean oil, pickle relish (diced pickles, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, vinegar, corn syrup, salt, calcium chloride, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), spice extractives, polysorbate 80, distilled vinegar, water, egg yolks, high fructose corn syrup, onion powder, mustard seed, salt, spices, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate (preservative), mustard bran, sugar, garlic powder, vegetable protein (hydrolyzed corn, soy and wheat), caramel colour, extractives of paprika, soy lecithin, turmeric (colour), calcium disodium EDTA (protect flavor). (source)
The nutritional breakdown of a Big Mac, from the McDonalds website is:
- 550 cal
- 30g fat (1g is trans, 11g saturated)
- 45g carbs
- 25g protein
- 9g sugar
- 1010g sodium
- 3g fiber
- 25 per cent DV of iron
- 8 per cent DV of potassium
- 10 per cent DV of calcium
Clearly, the salt, fat, sugar and carb content far exceed any real nutritional value in this food. Almost every part of it is hyper processed!
Now let’s look at a totally different take-out burger that claims to be far more healthy and natural. Hero Certified Burgers. Unlike McDonalds, these burgers are made with your choice of bun and condiments and the beef is “fully-traceable, Canadian angus beef, raised without antibiotics or hormones.” They come in 4, 6, or 8 oz sizes. They offer real cheese and a wide variety of toppings and a variety of buns, including sesame poppy seed, ciabatta, multigrain, and gluten-free. Because of all the variety, it’s impossible to do a nutritional breakdown of a standard Hero burger. It would vary widely based on the options you choose.
I was able to find nutrition stats on the 6oz Hero burger patty.
- 440 Calories
- 1g Carbs
- 38g fat
- 24g protein
And the gluten free bun:
- 240 calories
- 7g fat
- 41g carbs
- 4g protein
So, while the quality of the meat and the selection is superior, the content of fat, carbs, and proteins is very close. For a healthier option, I’d like to see a much lower carb and zero sugar content and I’d like to ensure that like the Hero burger, the fat content is as natural and healthy as possible, omitting vegetable oils and trans fats completely. The salt content is also disturbing. There is no need for so much salt!
So let’s look at how to make those options the healthiest they can be at home.
How to make a healthy burger at home:
To make a healthy burger at home, I recommend the highest quality ingredients. You want grass fed ground beef or chuck that you can have ground. If you go for lean ground beef you will be disappointed, because the fat in the burger is the taste to a large degree. When you make it at home, you can ensure this is quality meat, so the fat content is far healthier.
All natural homemade, juicy beef patty recipe:
- 1.5 lb medium ground beef
- Half onion, chopped fine
- One egg
- 1 tsp braggs liquid aminos
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- .5 tsp dried rosemary crushed
- .5 tsp mustard powder
- Optional .5 tsp ground red chili pepper flakes
Mix all ingredients well and form patties. Here is a secret I learned from a chef. I salt beef on the outside, just as it goes on the grill, because salt removes the moisture and helps create a crust. We like a bit of a crust on the exterior of our burgers and we like a moist inside. So we salt the outside liberally. We also add a bit of crushed black peppercorn. Now cook on a hot grill until done through.
If you like your burgers a bit rare inside, this is safe with chuck. But don’t do it with ground beef. If you like crispy edges, you can use a burger smasher and make them thin. You can also do small sliders, or big round burgers with cheese inside. You can really have fun with it!
If you prefer a veggie burger, I don’t recommend beyond meat burgers. They are hyper processed. You can find the ingredients here. The most objectionable ingredient I find in their product is expeller pressed canola oil - which is the second ingredient. All vegetable oils are super processed and highly inflammatory foods. I recommend making your own veggie burger if that’s your choice. Here is a great low carb veggie burger recipe I found.
My professional opinion is that an all-natural beef burger has far more nutrient value and fewer unnecessary carbs and is far healthier. Since carbs cause insulin and insulin resistance is the top health concern of our time, for a healthy burger I suggest real, unprocessed meat, all natural, sugar free toppings, and a lettuce bun.
There are a ton of combo ideas I enjoy here. There are keto and low carb buns you can get at Low Carb Canada or other specialty food stores to keep that carb creep down, but my strong preference is to stay away from processed food stuff. Our family tends to like our hamburgers as a hot hamburger loaded with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and a bone broth juice or as meatloaf muffin burgers or as thin sliders (usually with chaplee spice) on a lettuce bun.
For condiments I suggest trying things like fermented ketchup, fermented hot sauce like kimchi, natural mustards, homemade one minute mayonnaise, horseradish sauce, all natural cheese either on top or stuffed inside, and sauteed onions, bacon, and/or mushrooms. Of course, lettuce, unsweetened pickles, sprouts, microgreens, and raw onions are all great, too!
If you absolutely have to have a bread type bun, I have heard good things about this keto bun recipe. Why keto buns? Because they are very low in carb content and it’s clear that excess carbs are causing an epidemic of obesity and insulin related diseases in our society. If we want healthy dishes, we can include veggies without being vegetarian. And we can also include keto buns without going full keto! Everything we do to make our meals healthier is one step in the right direction! As such, I recommend adding a healthy veggie salad or some crudites with homemade mayonnaise as a side to your low carb healthy burger! Replace your soda with filtered water and you have a very nutritious meal!
Thank you for writing in, Max! I hope you enjoy your homemade burgers as much as the take out ones and enjoy the health benefits you’ll reap! Do try the fermented ketchup, as it’s seriously easy to make and we enjoy it more than store bought!
As always, readers can submit their health related questions by email and can find more about me and my services online.
Namaste!
Nonie Nutritionista
