Unhealthiest part of fast food cheeseburgers revealed: new analysis

Don’t make your heart a ham.

Cheeseburgers are a favorite food for many people, but some cheeseburgers are better for your health than others.

A new analysis by medical telehealth provider PlushCare has revealed the unhealthiest cheeseburgers from 16 fast food chains.

The research team analyzed the nutritional value by consulting the nutrition menu for calories, sugar, saturated fat and sodium values, then referencing the Department of Health’s Nutrient Profiling Method to assess the relative unhealthiness of each item.

The findings showed that Five Guys has the unhealthiest cheeseburger, scoring 50 unhealthiness points. According to the official website, it contains 980 calories, 55 grams of fat and 1,050 milligrams of sodium.

Whataburger and Smash Burger tied for second place with an unhealthy score of 42, and Carl’s Jr. came in fourth place with 37 unhealthiness points.

Culver’s was the least unhealthy cheeseburger option with a score of 17, and perhaps surprisingly, McDonald’s and Burger King tied for the second least unhealthy option, both with a score of 18.

The Unhealthiest Fast Food Cheeseburgers (in Order from Most to Least)

• 1. Five boys: Cheeseburger (50 points)
• 2 (THE ARMS). Whataburger: Jalapeño & Cheese Whataburger (42 points)
• 2 (THE ARMS). Smash Burger: Classic Smash (42 points)
• 4. Carl’s Jr.: Famous cheese star (37 points)
• 5. Voice: Sonic Cheeseburger (36 points)
• 6. Wendy’s: Dave’s Single (34 points)
• 7 (TIES). Shake Shack: Single Cheeseburger (30 points)
• 7 (TIES). Fatburger: Original Medium Fatburger (30 points)
• 9. Steak ‘n Shake: Single with cheese (26 points)
• 10 (TIES). In-N-Out: Onion Cheeseburger (25 points)
• 10 (TIES). The dairy queen: Original Cheeseburger Single (25 points)

Five Guys also had the least healthy fries (28 points), followed by Steak ‘n Shake in second place (19 points).

Again, McDonald’s fries were near the bottom, second to last least unhealthy, with a score of 7. In-N-Out fries were the least unhealthy (6 points).

The Unhealthiest Fast Food Fries

• 1. Five boys: Five Guys regular style (28 points)
• 2. Steak ‘n Shake: Medium fries (19 points)
• 3 (THE ARMS). Bojangles: Spiced French Fries (18 points)
• 3 (THE ARMS). Smash Burger: French fries (18 points)
• 5 (THE ARMS). KFC: Secret Recipe Fries (17 points)
• 5 (THE ARMS). Carl’s Jr.: Natural Medium Cut French Fries (17 points)
• 5 (THE ARMS). Shake Shack: Regular French Fries (17 points)
• 8 (TIES). Jack in the box: Medium fries (15 points)
• 8 (TIES). sound: Medium fries (15 points)
• 8 (TIES). Fatburger: Skinny Fries (15 points)

Research found that McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are the least unhealthy chicken (18 points).

The unhealthiest chicken was from Popeye’s with 30 points, followed by Arby’s in second place (29 points) and Shake Shack in third (26 points).

Unhealthiest fast food chicken balls

• 1. Popeyes: Nuggets 8pc (30 points)
• 2. Arby’s: Premium Nuggets 9pc (29 points)
• 3. Shake Shack: Chicken Bites (26 points)
• 4. Burger King: Chicken nuggets 8pc (25 points)
• 5 (THE ARMS). Jack in the box: Chicken nuggets 8pc (22 points)
• 5 (THE ARMS). Chick-fil-A: Nuggets 8pc (22 points)

Fatburger’s vanilla shake is the unhealthiest with 63 points – eight points higher than Sonic’s vanilla shake in second place with 55 points.

The least unhealthy vanilla shake is at McDonald’s, with 26 unhealthy points.

Unhealthiest fast food vanilla shake

• 1. Fatburger: Vanilla Shake (63 points)
• 2. Voice: Medium vanilla shake (55 points)
• 3. Five boys: Base Vanilla Shake (51 points)
• 4. Carl’s Jr.: Vanilla Shake (50 points)
• 5. A&W: Regular Vanilla Shake (47 points)
• 6. DQ: Vanilla Shake (44 points)
• 7. In-N-Out: Vanilla Shake (43 points)
• 8. Jack in a box: Vanilla with whipped cream (42 points)
• 9. Steak ‘n Shake: Regular Vanilla Shake (41 points)
• 10. Whataburger: Medium vanilla shake (39 points)

When it comes to chicken sandwiches, Popeye’s is the unhealthiest with 39 points. In second place is Fatburger, followed by Zaxby’s in third.

Once again, McDonald’s is at the bottom of the unhealthy list, coming in last with just 14 points.

Top Unhealthiest Fast Food Chicken Sandwiches

• 1. Popeyes: Classic Chicken Sandwich (39 points)
• 2. Fatburger: Crispy Chicken Sandwich (38 points)
• 3 (THE ARMS). Zaxby’s: Zax Signature Sandwich (37 points)
• 3 (THE ARMS). Smash Burger: Classic Smash Crispy Chicken (37 points)
• 5. Bojangles: Bo’s Chicken Sandwich (36 points)
• 6. Church’s Texas Chicken: Original Chicken Sandwich (35 points)
• 7. Growing reeds: Chicken sandwich (33 points)
• 8. Burger King: Original Chicken Sandwich (31 points)
• 9. Whataburger: Whatachick’n Mayonnaise Sandwich (30 points)
• 10. Voice: Crispy Chicken Sandwich (28 points)

Based on these findings, McDonald’s lovers can cut themselves some slack.

There are worse options out there.