Healthy foods at McDonald’s.

McDonald’s, founded in 1955, is undoubtedly one of the most successful restaurants in the world and about the largest with more than 37,000 facilities spread in up to 120 countries.

Like many other fast-food restaurants, McDonald’s foods are often laden with unhealthy saturated fats and sugars that are linked to various diseases. These are aside from their quite significant salt contents that are undesirable to hypertensives among other diseases.

However, it has several healthy options for people desirous of sticking to healthy diets and we’ll look at some of those. Note that a healthy diet is a relative term as what might be healthy for one may not be so healthy for another.

9 healthy foods at McDonald’s 2022.

1. Fruit and Maple oatmeal:

This is an ideal breakfast menu of fiber-rich whole-grain oats plus fruits and cream. While oatmeals are very useful in reducing cholesterol levels in your body, fiber is great for your digestive and gut health. They play a role in lowering the risk of various types of cancer as listed in another article under pineapples.

One way dietary fibers achieve their anti-cancer effect is by accelerating the passage of waste matter to the rectum for defecation.  Fiber-rich foods are also reliable companions in a weight loss journey as they make you feel satisfied thereby reducing the number of calories you could get by eating more.

Ingredients: Oatmeal cranberry raisin, diced apples, and cream.

2. Egg McMuffin.

This is a protein-rich breakfast meal and one of the relatively healthier options at McDonald’s. However, its high cholesterol, sodium, and saturated fat content means it may not be so healthy for you and everyone should eat it in moderation. Nonetheless, eggs alone are quite healthy superfoods that contain a balance of nutrients your body needs.¹ Healthcrust article. (trustworthy) see the article 

Below are the nutrition facts for egg Mcmuffin in a table.

3. Hamburger (without Mayonnaise or cheese).

It contains a good amount of protein obtained from pure beef seasoned with salt and pepper. It contains no artificial flavors or added colors but you may want to leave out the pickle if you don’t want artificial preservatives that constitute some health risks.²Journal of applied sciences. (scholarly source) visit source 

4. Six-piece chicken McNuggets.

This contains 100% white meat from broilers or chicken and is ideal for weight loss or maintenance. A serving of it contains about 250 calories but can be much higher according to the type of dipping sauce you opt for. The creamy ranch has as many as 110 calories.

If you are concerned about higher calories, it may be wise you avoid the creamy ranch and go for others like the tangy barbecue, horny mustard, or spicy buffalo.

5. Filet-O-Fish.

This is a protein-rich fish sandwich made from wild-caught Alaskan pollock and it’s healthy to be eaten for lunch or dinner. It has just a fraction of the sodium contained in most other foods on the restaurant’s menu so it’s also a good choice for known hypertensives.

It has about 380 calories and without cheese, the sodium content is about 370mg.

6. Apple slices.

It is made from real apples and is about one of the healthiest foods on McDonald’s menu if not the very best. Its low-calorie content per serving makes it ideal for Weight Watchers. Apples are also known as abdominal fat burners thereby helping you in no small way in achieving a flat tummy.³Journal of Oleo Science. (scholarly source) visit source 

It doesn’t contain saturated fats, cholesterol, or Sodium.

7. Quarter pounder (without ketchup or bun).

Though highly nutritious, it is another meal that is high in saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium so it shouldn’t be a regular meal for you. Replacing the bun and ketchup with cheese reduces the carb content such that it not only becomes more suitable to be eaten by diabetics but could also pass for a ketogenic diet.

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8. Sausage biscuit with egg (without biscuit).

This is an ideal keto-friendly breakfast but just like many other meals, it’s high in sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fats. For this reason, it should be eaten in moderation as these compounds pose a significant risk to your health and are risk factors for several diseases like those that affect the heart.

9. Big Mac. (without bun).

Without the bun, this provides a nutrient profile that fits into a keto-friendly diet. It comes with a special sauce called Big Mac sauce. The sauce has undergone several tweaks since it was first invented in 1968.

You may want to take this meal in moderation as it happens to be one of those with a high content of saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium.

Healthy breakfast foods at McDonald’s.

It has been said that eating breakfast is not only healthy but promotes good health and lifespan. This can only be true when the actual breakfast menu is a healthy one. At McDonald’s, foods like fruit and maple oatmeal are some of the healthiest choices for breakfast that are currently available. Another one is the apple slices.

The egg McMuffin ordinarily would have made a good choice for a breakfast but I won’t classify it as a very healthy breakfast meal because of its high saturated fats and cholesterol contents.

What is the most healthy food at McDonald’s?

It may be unfortunate that a lot of what would’ve passed for healthy meals on McDonald’s menu is currently unavailable but anyone can still make a healthy choice out of what’s available.

You do this by taking out any of the items in a meal that may qualify as being unhealthy for you. I’ve demonstrated this in the earlier sections. Items like cheese, buns, bacon, mayonnaise, and ketchup can be taken out from the ingredients of your choice meal to suit your health needs or demands.

Be that as it may, I take meals like the fruit & maple oatmeal, and Apple slices as some of the healthiest meals you could order without bothering about what to omit from the ingredients.

Lowest calorie food in McDonald’s.

One of the lowest calorie items in McDonald’s is undoubtedly the apple slices with about 15 calories. I’m not sure if there is any meal it offers that’s lower than that in calories.

Removing certain ingredients in some of the other McDonald’s meals could lower the net calories considerably. Still, there may be none that can be brought below the apple slice’s calorie level.

Low sodium McDonald’s.

The majority of McDonald’s meals are high in sodium. Sodium is an element in the common table salt. Salt brings out or improves the taste of meals so it’s unavoidably present in the majority of dishes, however, it may constitute a problem for people with certain health conditions if taken up to certain amounts.⁴The American Journal of Hypertension. (scholarly source) visit source  ⁵ Cochrane Library. Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride
(scholarly source) visit source 

If you are looking for a low-sodium meal in any of McDonald’s restaurants, the fruit and maple oatmeal could be where to start.

You may also be interested in other healthy foods like eggs with avocado toast and avocado salad with chicken.