Why McDonald's Might Be a Healthier Choice

The last time I checked, only McDonald's has in-store handouts with all their nutrition facts on them. That's probably because of movies like "Supersize Me" and other news stories pointing the finger at McDonald's for filling America's bellies with fatty food. But go to other chains like Qdoba, Noodles and Company, or Panera Bread and it's harder to get your hands on the nutrition facts. If their food is so much healthier than McDonald's, wouldn't they want us to know? Sure you can look up the nutrition facts for all these places online, but it's interesting that only McDonald's is bold enough to hand them to you on a tray with every order.

So I looked into these other places, and I'm picking on them because they are all delicious and are some of my favorite places to grab a quick bite. I think that people should realize, however, that they really aren't any better off by passing up McDonald's for any one of them. To prove it, I've highlighted my favorite meals from each of these four restaurants to compare their calorie, fat, and salt content.

McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese and medium fries. Calories: 890, Fat: 45g, Sodium: 1460. Ok, so it has the most fat of the four and that's not good, but with only 890 calories it loses a very close race for the lowest calorie meal of the four. What's shocking to me is that this meal contains significantly less sodium than all of the other three. This is important, since many researchers are beginning to blame high salt diets, rather than high fat diets for a majority of America's cardiovascular problems. I'll save that for another story.

The Qdoba burrito. Calories: 955, Fat: 41g, Sodium: 2320mg. With more calories, more salt, and almost as much fat as a Quarter Pounder with cheese and medium fries at McDonald's, Qdoba's burritos are clearly worse for you than just rice and chicken. Throw on shredded cheese, queso, your favorite salsa, and some pico and you'll send the burrito's nutrition stats through the roof.

Noodles and Company: Whole grain Tuscan linguine with crusted parmesan chicken. Calories: 960, Fat: 34g, Sodium: 1990mg. Again, the idea of eating something made of whole grains, with chicken instead of beef, fools us into believing that this dish must be healthier than anything we might order at McDonald's. Yes, this meal has less fat than the McDonald's meal, but has 130 more calories. Plus, whenever fat is shaved off of a meal, sodium is usually put in its place. If you're watching your sodium, skip Noodles and Company and head to McDonald's.

Panera Bread: Turkey artichoke sandwich with a bag of baked Lay's. Calories: 880, Fat: 29g, Sodium: 2540mg. Surprisingly, this meal has less fat than all the others, but beats McDonald's for fewest calories by just 10. Plus, here's another perfect example of trading fat for sodium. This meal contains over 1000mg more sodium than the McDonald's meal, making it the saltiest meal of the four.

In summary, I think we can say that McDonald's is not as unhealthy as people make it out to be. To be fair, all of these restaurants should be equally criticized for their high calorie, fatty, and salty meals. If you're trying to eat healthier, you should probably just avoid eating out altogether.