5 ‘Healthy’ Foods That Are Worse Than A Big Mac

Most of us wouldn't consider a Big Mac healthy, right? But what you might not realise is that many foods that we think are healthy are actually worse nutritionally than Macca's iconic hamburger.

A Big Mac comes in at 2340kJ (559 calories) with 30.3 grams of fat, 7.6 grams of sugar, and a whopping 1090mg of sodium.

So how does that stack up against seemingly healthier options?

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 into perspective 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, low-calorie options, but it's not the entire menu, so beware! Most of their 'customer favourites' fall under the not-so-healthy category. 

Take a look at one of their most popular meals, the Chicken Katsu Curry — nutritionally, it's far worse than a Big Mac!

• 24g of fat
• 1520mg of sodium
• 2580kJ

It’s funny that a company that used the word “healthy” in its name, doesn’t really 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:

• 32.2g of fat
• 9.7g of sugar
• 1020mg of sodium

Healthy, you say? Not exactly.

We'll let you in on a little secret here — 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