Are hamburgers unhealthy?

[Syran]

No... just no. There's nothing about processed food that makes it inherently unhealthy. It's just food that's been designed to be tasty (Which almost invariably includes high fats and salt contents).

I got up to 275 lbs eating home cooked food. Not even fatty processed food. Homemade alfredo sauces, chicken, rice, veggies, steak etc etc etc.

I lose 50 lbs eating Burger King. My blood pressure and cholesterol are both in perfectly healthy ranges.

It's not about who makes your food and its "processed" content. It's about how frigging much of it you eat.

Of course you will get fat if you eat anything in big quantities. But your post doesn't even make sense, you lost 50 lbs by eating Burger King. This obviously implies you are eating a lot less, not that Burger King is anywhere near healthy and better (or even the same) as properly made homemade food.

And yes, there are things inherently wrong with over-processed food like fastfood, high calorie density, they are nutrient poor, usually full of cheap carbohydrates (monosaharides) and trans fats. Which has nothing at all to do with quantity. You can still be skinny and unhealthy by eating only 1 burger per day.

[Laize]

Of course you will get fat if you eat anything in big quantities. But your post doesn't even make sense, you lost 50 lbs by eating Burger King. This obviously implies you are eating a lot less, not that Burger King is anywhere near healthy and better (or even the same) as properly made homemade food.

And yes, there are things inherently wrong with over-processed food like fastfood, high calorie density, they are nutrient poor, usually full of cheap carbohydrates (monosaharides) and trans fats. Which has nothing at all to do with quantity. You can still be skinny and unhealthy by eating only 1 burger per day.

I know of no fast food chains that I go to that still use trans fats.

Second, "nutrient rich/poor" is dictated by the food you eat, not where that food comes from. If I get tomato slices from Burger King they'll be just as nutrient rich as tomatoes from the store.

Don't complain about high calorie density in food when chicken you cook at home is no less calorie dense than chicken from McDonald's.

It's all about what you eat. Not where it comes from. Unless it comes from China.

[Narc]

If you make them yourself, you can make healthier alternatives to the fast food versions at the very least.
Otherwise it's not something I'd recommend having in your diet, if you at all care about your health. But pick your poison. Mine is beer.

[Mnevis]

Again, there's nothing unhealthy or dangerous about pink slime. It is, however, disgusting.

Well, do you think there's anything dangerous about weaning calves on cow blood, feeding chickens ground worn-out dairy cows, and feeding cattle and dairy cows chicken crap? Our industrial farming practices will catch up with us, and 'meat products' that are made out of 1000s of different animals will make it worse when it does.

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philp...cow-california
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michae..._1450984.html?

[Beavis]

Well, do you think there's anything dangerous about weaning calves on cow blood, feeding chickens ground worn-out dairy cows, and feeding cattle and dairy cows chicken crap? Our industrial farming practices will catch up with us, and 'meat products' that are made out of 1000s of different animals will make it worse when it does.

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philp...cow-california
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michae..._1450984.html?

That's for sure. I'm generally not into organic, but when it comes to animal products, I'll pony up the extra money for grass fed. That other shit is just creepy and I don't want to be a part of it.

[Kouki]

I'm not a pro health food scientist or whatever, but my friends keep telling me that hamburgers are really unhealthy, I mean, I know its not the most healthy food out there but if you compare a, lets say, Burger kings Whopper (meat+lettuce+tomato+onion+pickles and bread) with a regular american pizza or fried chicken from KFC (or whatever you like) for me the hamburger is the less unhealthy food.

What do you guys think?

Ignore anyone telling you what to eat or not eat , and eat what you want its a free country.

The Fakeumentary Supersize me is a fraud. Even more then any government election.

Watch the documentary Fat Head, it explains what ppl need to eat how much and from where.

We only recently in human history began to use vegetable oil extracted chemically, you cant squeeze that stuff out.
Animal fat for frying and cooking is better for you its good for your brain its good for your heart.

And another thing we only recently started eating Bread, well the kind we have in North america, the glucose index is higher in 1 loaf of bread then in 1 average bag of sugar, in your body grains convert directly to sugar.

So the more grain in your bread ie whole wheat the more sugar you will be taking into your body.
In 1 day your only allowed to eat 300mg of sugar this counts as converted sugar as well.

Watch the documentary and as long as your in a free country dont obey anything ppl tell you about what you put in your own body.

[Syran]

No... just no. There's nothing about processed food that makes it inherently unhealthy. It's just food that's been designed to be tasty (Which almost invariably includes high fats and salt contents).

I got up to 275 lbs eating home cooked food. Not even fatty processed food. Homemade alfredo sauces, chicken, rice, veggies, steak etc etc etc.

I lose 50 lbs eating Burger King. My blood pressure and cholesterol are both in perfectly healthy ranges.

It's not about who makes your food and its "processed" content. It's about how frigging much of it you eat.

Of course you will get fat if you eat anything in big quantities. But your post doesn't even make sense, you lost 50 lbs by eating Burger King. This obviously implies you are eating a lot less, not that Burger King is anywhere near healthy and better (or even the same) as properly made homemade food.

And yes, there are things inherently wrong with over-processed food like fastfood, high calorie density, they are nutrient poor, usually full of cheap carbohydrates (monosaharides) and trans fats. Which has nothing at all to do with quantity. You can still be skinny and unhealthy by eating only 1 burger per day.

---------- Post added 2012-09-23 at 11:25 AM ----------

I know of no fast food chains that I go to that still use trans fats.

Second, "nutrient rich/poor" is dictated by the food you eat, not where that food comes from. If I get tomato slices from Burger King they'll be just as nutrient rich as tomatoes from the store.

Don't complain about high calorie density in food when chicken you cook at home is no less calorie dense than chicken from McDonald's.

It's all about what you eat. Not where it comes from. Unless it comes from China.

We're talking about hamburgers here. Patties, buns and sauces. It's a combination of things. There's a difference between eating a hamburger, chugging down a diet coke and eating 1 slice of tomato and eating a lean homemade steak with whole potatoes and 1 slice of tomato. It's not just a calorie intake.

Chicken (obviously not fried) in a fastfood joint may be one of the healthier choices there but I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's the same as a fresh, homemade chicken.

[Faunwea]

Fast food anything is pretty bad for you.

If you make the hamburger at home it can be healthy. I usually grill or broil my hamburgers so that the grease and fat will be drained and use 90-96% lean beef. The most unhealthy part of the burger is really the bun because there is very little fiber and next to no nutritional value; it's all just bad carbs.

[Fuzzzie]

If you make the hamburger at home it can be healthy. I usually grill or broil my hamburgers so that the grease and fat will be drained and use 90-96% lean beef. The most unhealthy part of the burger is really the bun.

Eww.. 96% lean? That's one dry ass burger. 70/30 mix is the standard most chefs use. It's not unhealthy if you cook your food properly and don't eat 3 burgers a day every day.

[fadedmind]

All fast food is unhealthy for you no matter what it is on the menu. A co worker and I once a year put in $400 to buy a cow and have it butchered so the meat we get has no msg's , preservatives unlike anything you buy in any store.

[Kurioxan]

Well...
Fast food in general isnt the best for you, eating it once in a while is fine as your body is resilient enough to cope with it, it sure isnt a good idea to make it a habit.
But, if you are going to eat fast food, i would imagine burgers are likely the best options (aside from subs afaik, havent looked into them too much).

Chicken for example in many cases is what is called "recovered" meat, basically imagine all the stuff that doesnt sell on supermarkets, ground up together with fat, bones, skin, then bleached/sterilized.
if you put a whole chicken in the blender without legs and wings, and made a paste out of it, bones, skin, organs, fat, would you eat it?

Amounts of salt arent very good either...
Honestly?
You can eat it, in moderation.
Best option? dont at all, make your own.
Many butchers shops allow you to pick up a piece of beef and grind it up to make hamburgers, as a suggestion tell them to add some bacon (note, some) to the meat.
It is going to be far better than the crap you buy at fast food joints, both taste, quality and "healthiness".

Now i will speculate a bit, I only have my own opinion on it and havent checked for scientific backing at all, BUT, try to avoid frozen meat as well.
Water when frozen crystallizes into sharp points, aside from also expanding.
What happens is that all the cells in the meat will be torn apart and its "juices" leak out, this is why meat that has been frozen both tastes differently and feels differently (if you handle it while raw). I can imagine it also has effects on nutrition.

If you seek a fairly healthy food habit however, is the good old "only eat what you could catch in nature or has minimal processing" and Mediterranean diet style, lots of vegetables, olive oil, vinegar, some meat, fruit and some rice/pasta/potatoes.

Nutrition is an immensely important factor in quality of life, and sadly much overlooked.
Even hormonal balancing depends on what you eat, so in a sense what you eat could literally be making you miserable due to lack of certain nutrients...

[FathomFear]

Well...
Fast food in general isnt the best for you, eating it once in a while is fine as your body is resilient enough to cope with it, it sure isnt a good idea to make it a habit.

Honestly, the best part of abstaining from fast food is the money you save. When I switched to a vegan diet almost 8 years ago, I largely gave up fast food as a result due to the limited options there are for people who don't eat meat. It wouldn't surprise me that I've saved well over $5,000 alone just by doing that.

I still get fast food occasionally, but it doesn't go much beyond a veggie sub from Subway with no cheese. I'll have it once every few weeks when I'm in a rush.

[Deleted]

Unless you are a vegan hippy then almost everything you eat (at least a part of every meal) could be interpreted as unhealthy. People in this topic got carreid away fast without really realising it.

When you take a burger apart:
- white bread
- tomatoes
- pickles
- onion
- ground beef
- ketchup/mustard/mayo
You probably wouldn't think twice about any of these ingredients. Yea, bread is an "empty carb" but we are all used to eating it sometimes since we were kids. Vegetables are obvious. Ground beef is meat, nothing special. Condiments are eaten in small portions so they really don't matter too much.

But put it together, call it a fast food burger and people will flip their shit. The video posted on top of the 2nd page of this topic explains it very well.

As for the original question, burgers usually use ground beef with higher amount of fat and salt, we should generally watch sodium and our cholesterol so burgers won't win the healthiest meal of the year award but they aren't really harmful either. The key is moderation and variety (i.e. you don't eat 3 burger a day nor only burgers).

[Karapoyraz]

No fastfood will hurt your health if you eat it seldomly. if its become everyday diet for you then its a prety big problem and primary cause of overweight.

More importantly people usualy buy fastfoods as menus and it is Burger+fried patato+coke. Please be awere of anything "Fried" is not good for your health especialy if its come from fastfood kitchen. They usualy dont discard fring oil for a week and not until it becomes pitch Black. it is super unhealty and also causes cancer. Last part is coke and it is actualy worst unhealty thing you can drink in your diet.

So, real proeblem is not burger but its 2 unimportant looking friends

[rigoremortis]

News flash. They've done the research. There is no benefit to "organic" food. You don't get more nutrients. They aren't 'healthier'. They're just more expensive. It really surprises me how many people out there think that just because food comes from a fast food joint that it automatically means that it is "unhealthy". That's total bullcrap. Those guys have the whole food handling process down to a science. They are scrupulously clean, and their food scientists (they employ REAL ones as opposed to organic hippies) make sure they're as good or better than anything you could make at home. It's total foolishness to assume that Fast Food ingredients are "unhealthy".

Now - the PROPORTIONS can be unhealthy - that is true. When you make a triple-patty, extra-cheese, double-mayo monstrosity of course it is unhealthy - but it is not because the ingredients are unhealthy. It is because you are eating 5X as much food at once as you should and garnishing it with pure fat.

ummmm, no. if you think that fastfood chains are "scrupulously clean", then you are very, very, very misinformed. my father's company used to do air conditioning for a lot of fast food chains from the mid 90's up until a few years ago, they dropped the contracts because A) the maintenance tech's refused to go through their disgusting kitchens, and clean their ducts, often times filled with mounds of grease, and dead rats (this is 100% true for at least 3 fast food chains im aware of), and B) because his company had to charge more to pay the tech's more to go in there, so a good majority of the fast food chains actually started their own heating and air conditioning departments to take care of these chains.

anything from a fast food joint is unhealthy, its fast food......its made because people are too fat and lazy to take the time to make themselves a healthy meal. trust me, the ingredients are unhealthy, its the reason why you have to take a shit 5 seconds after taking your first bite, because its not real meat most of the time, and not processed, and the body isnt used to digesting this kind of disgusting crap.

edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1hyGeiByMM

nick swardon puts it perfectly, fast food is only amazing when you're black-out drunk, it otherwise tastes like crap. lol