5 ‘healthy’ foods that are worse then a Big Mac

Everyone knows that Big Macs aren’t exactly healthy. 

To its credit, McDonald’s makes no secret of the fact its Big Macs aren’t designed to be good for you. It says it right there on the box:

• 31g of fat
• 7.1g of sugar
• 1040mg of sodium

But the same can’t be said for those “healthier” options that market themselves as better alternatives but can actually be worse for you than your favourite McDonald’s order.

When you walk into any Thai restaurant and watch the simplicity of the ingredients that go into every dish, it’s easy to think you’ve landed in tasty health food heaven.

But there are some dishes lurking on the menu that pack an unbelievable amount of fat and salt — take that perennial favourite Pad Thai, which, according to Deliveroo, is the most popular takeaway dish in Australia.

Are you ready for this? A chicken Pad Thai contains approximately:

• 40g of fat
• 20g of sugar
• 2600mg of sodium

Sushi is the go-to pick for a healthy snack, and to be fair, if you’re ordering sashimi (up to 40 calories per piece), it genuinely is good for you. That’s largely the meal of choice in Japan, for example, a country with one of the longest life expectancies on the planet.

But do you know what you never see in Japan? The fried chicken rolls and Teriyaki chicken options are paired with white rice, slathered in mayonnaise, and then dunked in the salt bath that is soy sauce.

Just one roll has up to:

• 13g of fat
• 8g of sugar
• 800mg of sodium and 960mg of salt

And most of us have 2-3 of those little rolls, so that should put it in proportion for you.

Youfoodz is now one of the largest “healthy meals on the go” companies around with their clever advertising to busy people who want to eat healthily.

And yes, like McDonald’s, they too have healthy options. However, does Youfoodz live up to all the hype? Take their Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad — yes salad it says, however, this meal is actually worse for you nutritionally than a Big Mac with:

• 31.4g of fat
• 10.6g of sugar
• 600mg of sodium

It’s funny that a company that actually has the word “healthy” in its name, unfortunately, doesn’t always live up to the “healthy” hype. In fact, many Grill’d burgers are actually worse for you than a Big Mac.

Grill’d’s Crispy Bacon and Cheeseburger contains a whopping:

• 37.7g of fat
• 11g of sugar
• 1500mg of salt

Healthy, you say? Not exactly.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret — banana bread is not actually bread. It’s cake. And it’s delicious. But it has had a very clever marketing job pulled on it.

No surprise, then, that a single, 128g slice will serve up:

• 16.3g of fat
• 30.3g of sugar
• 411mg of sodium