Chapter 13: Fast Food—Burgers, Chicken, and More

Fast-food restaurants can churn out your meal in minutes (sometimes less) and offer you a relatively low-cost meal. These restaurants dot the highways, byways, and streets of cities and towns across America—actually, most of the world. They’re generally easy to find, no matter where you live. On the plus side, you likely know these restaurants and their menus well.

The restaurants in this chapter include the large chain restaurants best known for serving their mainstays—burgers, chicken sandwiches, fried chicken, french fries, and soda. Today, lots of restaurants in America serve food fast and it’s all covered in this book. You’ll find information about other foods served fast (e.g., pizza, Mexican, Chinese, and other ethnic cuisines) in the related fare-specific chapters in Sections 2 and 3. Most of these fast-food chains also serve breakfast. You’ll find breakfast foods covered in Chapter 11.

On the Menu

Fast-food restaurants began lining America’s highways in the 1950s and 1960s. Their menus of burgers, fries, and soda were augmented over the years with items like chicken pieces (nuggets, tenders, and the like), chicken sandwiches (grilled, broiled, or deep-fried), breakfast items, and desserts. But it was the invention of the super-sized burger, fries, and soda combos, also known as meal deals, in the 1990s that greatly expanded fast-food restaurants’ profits and our waistlines. These double or triple mammoth burgers and fried chicken sandwiches, loaded with cheese and bacon, continue to be present on these restaurants’ menus.

Today, however, it is easier than ever to use the words “fast food” and “healthy” in the same breath. Yes, believe it, then try it! Fast-food restaurants have been trying to introduce healthier options for years. They’ve tried and failed a number of times. Not all the fault is on their side—people weren’t buying. Of late, they’ve received increasing pressure, legislatively, from health authorities and consumers to make healthy changes to their menus and come clean with nutrition information. Here are some of the health-conscious changes that are, or are in the process of, being implemented by fast-food restaurants:

• Tucked within the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) is a regulation that requires chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets serving the same menu to post the calories on their menu or menu board. (Learn more about restaurant nutrition labeling in Chapter 7.) The availability of calories on the menu board can (but doesn’t always) make it easier for you to choose lower-calorie options. Making restaurants disclose their calories counts has motivated some restaurants to lower the calories of some popular menu options and offer a few healthier sandwiches and sides.

• Trans fat, in the form of partially hydrogenated oil, has been reduced or eliminated in many restaurants and will likely (eventually) be completely phased out due to an FDA regulation proposed in late 2013. But as with all government regulations, putting this regulation into action will take time.

• Lower-fat items, such as leaner burgers (Burger King has a veggies burger, Carl’s Jr. has a turkey burger), grilled chicken sandwiches, baked potatoes, lower-fat salad dressings, and low-fat milk, are more commonly available today.

• More fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are now on fast-food menus. For example, several chains offer an assortment of entrée-size and side salads, and Wendy’s even sells half-size salads, which often are just enough for a healthy meal. Plus, several restaurants offer a fresh fruit option, such as apple slices or a fruit cup, as a side option or with kids’ meals. McDonald’s has publicly committed to test more fruit and vegetable side options, so we may soon see more healthful options added to the menu there and at other leading fast-food chains.

Let’s commend these steps! And, more importantly, let’s buy these items to keep them on the menu.

Despite this handful of positive changes and the fact that you can eat healthier fast-food meals if you try, the bitter truth is that fast-food meals are generally high in total fat, saturated fat, and sodium. They’re also lower in healthy sources of carbohydrate than desirable. Even the nutritious potato, when placed on the fast-food menu, becomes drenched in oil from the deep-fryer, and/or surrounded by lots of unhealthy cheese, bacon, and sour cream. There’s not much green and crunchy in an order that consists of a burger, fries, and a shake, though the pictures they promote can fool you. At least a side or garden salad can help complement a burger with something crunchy other than fries. Fruit—other than apple slices, the occasional fruit cup, fruit juice, or fruit mixed in a high-sugar dessert—simply doesn’t make a showing on most fast-food menus.

Minimize Fried Foods

Fried foods are plentiful, but it’s important to minimize the amount you eat to cut down on total fat and decrease calories. Try to offset one fried food with a grilled or non-fried item. For example, opt for a small order of french fries (or share a medium order) with a no-frills hamburger or a grilled chicken sandwich. Or complement a piece or two of fried chicken with a plain baked potato (preferably shared because they are large), a garden salad, and baked beans or an ear of corn. Obviously, you’re better off avoiding all fried foods, but that’s easier said than done.

Watch Out for “Sneaky” Fat

Be mindful of all the ways fat grams can sneak into your meal. Think about these popular additions to hamburgers and chicken sandwiches: cheese, bacon, “special sauce”—which most often is mayonnaise-based—or just plain mayonnaise. All of these are just about 100% fat and contain some unhealthy saturated fat. Even with the healthier options of salads and baked potatoes, fat is in toppings like salad dressing and cheese.

Consider the fast-food packets of salad dressing; many contain 4 tablespoons of dressing and upward of 200 calories! So, if you pour on the whole packet, you can quickly destroy the health benefits of a salad with more calories from the dressing than the salad itself. The same logic holds true for the no-fat baked potato to which fat-dense cheese sauce, sour cream, and/or bacon bits are added. But one positive aspect of the healthier food choices—grilled chicken sandwiches, salad, and potatoes—is that you’re in the driver’s seat and can control the toppings by using special requests or just not overdoing it with add-ons.

Limit Sodium

The high sodium content of fast-food meals is another pitfall. The sodium gauge rises as foods are coated in salty batters or as pickles, special sauces, bacon, cheese, and salad dressing are added. Not to mention the salt shaker used on french fries. Consider Burger King’s Original Whopper with cheese, which contains more than 1,200 milligrams of sodium—a bit over half of what’s recommended for an entire day! It’s not unusual to see a fast-food meal quickly rise above the desirable daily sodium count of 2,300 milligrams. Some of the sodium in fast-food meals is difficult to cut down because of the high-sodium ingredients used in some foods before they even enter the restaurant’s back door. The chicken fillet used in grilled or fried sandwiches, for example, contains anywhere from 400 to a whopping 1,300 milligrams of sodium, depending on the restaurant, prior to being placed on the grill or in the deep fryer. Cut your sodium intake where you can by cutting down on high-sodium ingredients (salad dressing, cheese, special sauces, and bacon). Order french fries unsalted and make it a small order. Keep in mind that you can decrease your sodium count by just eating less food.

Have a Plan

Surprisingly, the art of preplanning is actually easier in fast-food restaurants for several reasons. You aren’t greeted with a menu to peruse that tempts your taste buds. You know only too well what’s on the menu board at each restaurant from California to New York and well beyond.

One important healthy restaurant eating strategy is to decide what you’ll order before you cross the threshold or hit the drive-thru speaker; have an action plan in mind. The smells, meal deals, and visual cues might tempt you to vacillate, but hold firm. If you have a willing partner, give him or her your order prior to walking in and then offer to snag a table to avoid the cues that may lead you astray.

Control Your Portions

Another advantage of fast-food restaurants when it comes to controlling portions is that you don’t have to wait to eat. It’s order and chow down. No bread and butter or chips and salsa greet you at the table, and there are no high-fat appetizers to tempt you. Also, dessert receives almost no attention. You can keep portions small by ordering items with the words “small,” “regular,” “junior,” or “single.” Skirt around the words that mean large portions: “giant,” “super,” “jumbo,” “double,” “triple,” “big,” and “extra-large.” A single hamburger has between 2 and 3 ounces of cooked meat, just about the right portion for lunch or dinner.

Eat Mindfully

Lastly, try to eat mindfully in order to really enjoy each and every bite. To do this, monitor your pace of eating. Granted, getting the job of eating done quickly is the main goal of your fast-food stop. And the environment of a fast-food restaurant fosters a quickened pace. But take at least 15–20 minutes for a meal. Chew your food and put down your utensils every few bites. Savor the tastes of different foods. Train yourself over time to eat more mindfully. Mindful eating has the potential to help with weight management because you may eat less. Avoid drive-thrus—there’s nothing positive about them. They cause you to eat quickly, and, when you go through a drive-thru, you are likely multitasking and can’t focus solely on eating mindfully. You hardly taste the food as you shovel it in.

The Menu Profile

Hamburgers

A trend in hamburgers is giant loaded burgers. Most fast-food burger chains offer double, triple, quad (4 patties), biggie, or monster burgers. And high-fat toppings, such as cheese, bacon, and special sauces, are commonplace. The vegetable toppings remain minimal—a bit of lettuce and tomato and, oh yes, sometime a pickle or two. The good news is that small- and regular-size burgers remain on all menus and kids’ meals are getting healthier. (Don’t be shy about ordering one, there’s no age cutoff at fast-food restaurants like there is in sit-down restaurants.)

The frequent additions of cheese, special sauces (usually mayonnaise-based), and bacon add fat and calories, whereas pickles, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, and ketchup increase flavor without the fat. Compare the nutrition info of a plain hamburger at Burger King, with about 230 calories and 9 grams of fat (35% of calories from fat), to the Double Whooper with Cheese, with about 1070 calories and 70 grams of fat (almost 60% of calories from fat). Keeping your burgers plain and simple will help you with your healthy eating goals. See Little Changes Make a Big Difference for examples of how small adjustments can make your fast-food meal healthier.

Chicken Sandwiches

Restaurant chains that got their start with burgers and fries now also serve both a grilled and fried chicken sandwich. Make these sandwiches healthier (lower in fat) by skipping the special sauce. Generally, if you can manage to get them to hold the “special sauce” (translated, this means more fat grams), then the grilled chicken sandwich is healthier than a loaded hamburger, fried chicken sandwich, or fried chicken pieces (nuggets or tenders). You might also find grilled chicken in a wrap at several chains. Do look for the word “grilled” in the description. If you see the descriptor “crispy,” the chicken is fried. And if you don’t see a descriptor at all, chances are the chicken is fried. Most restaurants that serve a grilled chicken sandwich also serve fried chicken pieces with your choice of sauces. Take advantage of this. Try one of the low-fat dipping sauces, such as barbecue or honey mustard, on your grilled chicken sandwich. Yes, they contain a few grams of carbohydrate. For that matter, do the same with a burger. Keep in mind, however, that mustard is your best bet for condiments when it comes to calories and carbohydrate.

Chicken Nuggets or Tenders

Fried chicken pieces were first introduced by McDonald’s and are now stocked by many other chains. They’re a hit with kids because they’re a finger food and easy to eat. No matter what restaurant serves them, they are essentially chicken that is coated and deep-fried. (An occasional restaurant may offer these grilled.) Loaded with around 50% of calories from fat, there are just too many healthier options available today to even think of eating these.

Fried Chicken

A few chains specialize in serving fried chicken to the masses. Several of them tried serving roasted chicken, but it didn’t last. Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC (as they want to be called to avoid the “F” word), is the leader in this field. Then there are some other hamburger chains that also serve fried chicken, such as Hardee’s and Roy Rogers. There’s little nutritionally redeeming about fried chicken. If you eat fried chicken once in a blue moon, set a limit of one or two pieces. From a fat count standpoint, you’re best off with the breast minus the wing, but if you only eat it once in a while, eat the parts you enjoy the most. Complement the chicken with healthier sides, such as mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green beans, or baked beans, rather than more fried offerings.

Fried Fish Sandwiches

Fish is healthy, of course, but not when it’s lost among batter, oil, tartar sauce, and (to add insult to injury) a slice of cheese. Fried fish sandwiches are among the least healthy item on a fast-food menu. Without counting the French fries, these sandwiches run between 400–550 calories and about 45% of the calories are from fat. It’s too bad that grilled fish just doesn’t seem to be an option when it comes to fast food. Hold off on fish until you can prepare it at home or order it grilled or broiled in a sit-down restaurant so you really get to eat some healthy fish.

French Fries

It seems that crispy golden french fries accompany nearly every fast-food sandwich. Yes, they are hard to pass up, especially once you enter the restaurant and take a whiff. As a vegetable, potatoes do offer nutritional value, and a small or regular order of french fries isn’t overly loaded with calories at about 200–300 per order. However, about 40 to 45% of those calories are from fat, thanks to the cooking method. If you’ve just got to have some, order a small serving (think kids’ size) or split a larger order.

Baked Potatoes

Baked potatoes have been a healthier alternative on several fast-food menus for a while now. Wendy’s is the national burger chain that most promotes the availability of baked potatoes. But, once again, you start off with a strong nutritional bet, a potato, and restaurants find a multitude of ways to drive up the fat with added butter, margarine, cheese, bacon, sour cream, chili, or a combination of these. The best of the toppings, though none of them are wonderful, are broccoli or chili, without the cheese. If the cheese sauce adds a lot of flavor for you, then request a small amount. At Wendy’s, it’s easy to order a plain baked potato and a small chili. With these items you’re set for a filling and healthy meal. Or, instead of french fries with a sandwich, you can split a baked potato with a dining partner—they are large.

Salads

A variety of salad options are available at most national chains, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Carl’s Jr., Steak ‘n’ Shake, Culver’s, and Chick-fil-A. Clearly a side or garden salad, when matched with a sandwich instead of French fries, improves the healthfulness of a fast-food meal. Wendy’s even offers half-size salads, making them a perfect choice for a side, a lighter meal for those in need of more calories, and a sufficient meal for those on a tighter calorie budget. And speaking of lighter meals, opt for a meal-size salad as your entrée whenever you can. Do watch out, however, for high-fat add-ons, such as sour cream, fried chicken, Chinese noodles, nuts, and the like. Next, use the ridiculously large serving of salad dressing (generally provided in packets on the side) sparingly. Choose a low-fat or fat-free salad dressing if you like the taste. But drizzle these judiciously. They might not have the calories and fat of regular dressing, but their sodium count can be sky high. If you like a particular regular dressing best, leave more in the packet than you put on your relatively small salad. Learn more about salads and salad dressings in Chapter 15.

Sides

Other than french fries, side salads, and baked potatoes, fast-food restaurants are expanding side items on the menu. At fried chicken–focused restaurants, you will often find sides like biscuits and mayonnaise-based cole slaw, both of which are high in fat. Healthier options, such as steamed veggies, baked beans, ready-to-eat carrots, apple slices, and fresh fruit cups, are appearing at more restaurants, making it easier for you to improve the nutritional content of your meal. Use your buying power to support these options. Hopefully, restaurants will respond to the demand by introducing ever more healthy options.

Shakes

The shakes at fast-food restaurants pack a lot of calories from carbohydrate (mainly from sugars), which can certainly raise glucose levels. But they are reasonably low in fat. The servings are large. Treat them as you would ice cream or any other dessert: order a small size on occasion as a dessert to satisfy a sweet tooth. Request an extra cup and split it with another diner.

Desserts

Desserts are easy to avoid in fast-food restaurants. They don’t receive or deserve much play because their tastes are marginal at best. On occasion, if you just feel the urge, order a small ice cream or frozen yogurt cone or an order of cookies. Do split or share when you are able. Skip the pies, sundaes, and cheesecakes. Save your calories and precious carbohydrate grams for something more splurge-worthy.

Beverages

By far, one of the best beverage picks at a fast-food restaurant is low-fat or fat-free milk. Sometimes, 100% fruit juice, most commonly apple or orange, is available. Juice can be a decent choice if you pay attention to serving size. Avoid the sugar-loaded lemonade, fruit punch, and sugar-sweetened beverages in favor of no-calorie diet beverages, unsweetened iced or hot coffee or tea, or just good old water. Check out Chapter 9 for a complete rundown on nonalcoholic beverages.

Little Changes Make a Big Difference

Small changes in the foods you order at a fast-food restaurant can add up to a big nutritional difference. Changes in the size of a food item, its preparation method, its toppings, or even its accompanying side dish or beverage can easily help you create a healthier fast-food meal. Here are two examples of how a few changes can make your meal both healthy and satisfying:

Nutrition Snapshot

Green-Flag Words

Ingredients:

• Whole grain

Cooking Methods/Menu Descriptions:

• Grilled

• Junior

• Low-fat

• Nonfat

• Regular

• Roasted

• Sautéed

• Single

• Steamed

Red-Flag Words

Cooking Methods/Menu Descriptions:

• Aioli

• Battered

• Breaded

• Buttered

• Creamy

• Crispy

• Crunchy

• Deep-fried

• Double

• Fried

• Melt

• Smothered

• Stacked

Healthy Eating Tips and Tactics

• Plan ahead. If you eat at fast-food restaurants regularly, be sure you have one very healthy order memorized and make it your own personal default meal. Limit “splurges” to no more than once a month.

• Make words like “regular,” “junior,” “small,” or “single” part of your menu ordering vocabulary. These help to ensure you get smaller portions.

• Avoid meal deals, which can push you to eat larger portions because you can buy more food (most often fried items and drinks) for less. Don’t get caught up in this unhealthy mentality.

• Try using lower-calorie ketchup, mustard, or barbecue sauce to replace higher-fat mayonnaise or special sauce.

• Walk in rather than drive through. If you eat and drive, you’ll hardly realize that food has passed your lips.

• Order less food to start. Remember, you can go back and get more in a flash.

• Try not to look at the pictures on menu boards, which may tempt you to deviate from your healthy eating plan.

• Use positive reinforcement words with yourself. If you are tempted to stray from your plan, say things like “I feel best when I choose the healthier option.”

• Want fries? Go ahead, but split a small or medium order with a friend.

• Remove the top of the bun to create an open-faced sandwich. This is an easy way to cut calories without cutting flavor.

• If there’s enough food for two meals, ask for a takeout container and split the meal in two before you dig in. Take half home for another meal.

Get It Your Way

• Avoid the busy times at fast-food restaurants if possible. This way the restaurant will have more time to accommodate your special requests.

• Be ready to wait. Fast-food restaurants are not set up for special requests, so limit them to what’s reasonable.

• Ask for simple changes: leave off the special sauce or mayonnaise, hold the pickles, bacon, or cheese, or hold the salt on the french fries.

• If you’re at a chicken-focused restaurant, ask to have the skin removed, especially if you can’t trust yourself to do it.

• Request gravy, butter, or salad dressing on the side.

Tips and Tactics for Gluten-Free Eating

• Your best bet here is to check the allergen statement on the website of the fast-food chain you choose to go to. Or call the corporate office to determine what is safe to eat on the menu.

• The risk for cross-contamination in fast-food restaurants is high. Employee turnover and lack of training contribute to mistakes in food preparation.

Tips and Tactics to Help Kids Eat Healthy

• Opt for a small burger or grilled chicken sandwich as your child’s entrée. Similar to your own meal strategy, forgo higher-fat mayonnaise and special sauces in favor of ketchup, mustard, or barbecue sauce on your child’s sandwich.

• If your child wants chicken nuggets, choose the smallest size possible.

• Be smart about portion sizes. Some fast-food restaurants offer bigger-size kids’ meal options, which are higher in calories, fat, sodium, and everything else. Order the smallest size available or plan to split the meal.

• Be specific when placing your order to ensure your child gets healthier sides, such as fruit and low-fat milk. Otherwise, he or she may end up with fries and a soda, which are the “default” side options at many restaurants.

• Choose low-fat milk or water as your child’s beverage. Fruit juice made of 100% juice is also an acceptable option, but keep in mind that kids between the ages of 1 and 6 years old should drink no more than 4–6 ounces a day, while older kids should limit juice to 8–12 ounces a day. And children with diabetes won’t want to allot so many carb grams for fruit juice.

What’s Your Solution?

You are having a busy day at work and don’t have time for lunch, but you know you need to eat and can’t delay a meal too long. Your co-worker offers to dash over to a fast-food restaurant and bring food back for you. You’re not familiar with the restaurant they picked and don’t have time to look at the online menu to find out about the healthier options.

Which of the following orders should you ask your co-worker to bring back for you?

a) “Order me the biggest value meal on the menu—I’m really hungry!”

b) “Order me the double burger value meal. Ask them to hold the special sauce.”

c) “I’ll have a small burger, small french fries, a side salad with light vinaigrette, and a diet coke.”

d) “I’d like a grilled chicken sandwich with extra lettuce and tomato. Ask them to hold the special sauce and get me a package of mustard. Also get me a side salad with low-fat vinaigrette dressing and a bottle of water.”

See the end of the chapter for answers.

Menu Samplers

What’s Your Solution? Answers

a) This is an impulsive order, which is easy to turn to if you’re hungry and stressed. Take a deep breath, try again, and be specific.

b) This is a healthier option. Requesting your burger without the special sauce will help reduce the calories, fat, and sodium content. (Good thinking!) But unless you specify otherwise, the value meal will come with medium french fries.

c) This is an even healthier option! The small burger and small order of french fries will give you that crunchy oily taste you might be craving, but will keep the portion small. The side salad will provide nutrition and something to chew on to help you feel more full. Use that low-fat dressing sparingly.

d) You’re a fast-food ordering pro! Grilled chicken options are often among the healthiest fast-food options, as long as you order them without the sauce to keep the fat and sodium content in check. Bulking up the sandwich with extra vegetables will inch you towards your daily vegetable goal, and water is the healthiest beverage there is.