The problem with the protein in fast food, is that it’s rarely very high quality and this is evident when you look at fast food nutrition facts. Protein is essential for the body in order to be recycled and used to build up our muscles, skin, ligaments and every other type of tissue. However not all protein will do this equally well and so it’s important to pick and choose wisely. Firstly, there are 25 known amino acids in proteins (though experts disagree on this number) and the body needs all of them to do its job properly. Unfortunately not all protein contains all 25, in fact only eggs do, and bad quality processed meat such as that found in burgers will likely contain only a small proportion of those we need.

Furthermore, every type of protein has its own biological value, which refers to how easy it is for the body to extract and use the amino acids in the meat. If this is a low number, then it means the body will only utilise a small percentage of the few amino acids there. Basically when you eat meat from a fast food restaurant you’re eating all of the cast off useless meat from other ‘indiscriminate meat’ (meaning you don’t even know which animal you’re getting) which has then been blended together and fried in gigantic amounts of fat. In other words it’s pretty much useless and will just confuse your digestive system. If you want to get protein you should be eating lean portions of chicken, tuna and grilled steak.

So what do you do then? Baring in my fast food nutrition facts do you boycott the restaurants entirely? Doom yourself to a life without cheeseburgers (the cheese is processed from chemicals too by the way)? Well no, and like I said earlier the secret is everything in moderation. If you do fancy some fast food from time to time then go ahead, but consider it a treat and try to limit it to at least once a fortnight on average. Sure it’s unhealthy, but so is cake and you’re hardly going to stop eating that completely right? There was that programme not so long ago, ‘Supersize Me’, which showed what would happen if you ate just Mac Donalds. Of course the guy nearly killed himself then looked very smug about proving fast food was evil. The guy was completely wasting his time though – the point of Mac Donalds isn’t that you can eat there every day.

If you ate anything every day it would bad for you, especially if you didn’t eat anything else. If you ate just Mars bars your days would certainly be numbered, should we ban those? The idiot didn’t really prove anything… The problem is not with the food itself but with the people who lack will power or common sense enough to eat something else. The fast food nutrition facts have little to do with that.

And there are always healthier options when you get a takeaway too. For example, going for a veggie burger (the only time I’d ever recommend a veggie anything…) will make it far more lean and less fatty. Similarly going for the chicken burger is always a good decision and you can ask them to hold the mayo. Burger King meanwhile offers at least one grilled version of their burger which will make it far less fatty (and it also claims that this is one hundred percent real beef). If you’re in Mac Donalds you can even get a small bag of apples (thanks to the aforementioned idiot) to replace your chips… but then really what’s the point of going? And funny how everyone completely missed the point and didn’t make any of the other chains follow suit… Everywhere has alternatives though – most offer a fruit juice or water alternative (or at least an Oasis) to the sugary fizzy drinks like coke and Pizza Hut even sports a salad bar!

Alternatively you can go for something other than a burger and fries and there are many other filling fast food options available such as baguettes. Subway has pretty much spearheaded the healthy fast food revolution and allows you to pick and create your own sub. Make it a tuna with salad and you’ve got a really healthy snack that’s just as energy boosting and savoury (and Subway is even open after a night out). Another option for those who have slightly less disposable income is Greggs which offers a similar service for slightly cheaper but with less option. Either of these will offer you a far healthier snack if you’re thinking of having a takeaway for convenience sake. If you’re going for an actual meal however then there are a lot of cheap places that are almost as quick. If you go to a buffet you can be in and out like a flash and control exactly what you eat.

So fast food nutrition facts show us that it’s high in fat, salt, calories and carbs – it should certainly be avoided if you’re dieting or suffer from diabetes/heart problems. Otherwise though keep it to a minimum and make it a guilty pleasure a couple of times a month.

Mack LeMouse

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