In a world that is consumed by diet culture, pushed on by pseudo-health professionals, fast food is often villainized to the fullest extent. However, it isn’t stated enough that any food is better than not eating at all. A recent study has ranked the top ten healthiest fast-food restaurants and found some really surprising results. The study was conducted by taking 20 different fast food restaurants’ five most popular dishes and judging their macros.
The first place unsurprisingly belongs to Chipotle with lots of great protein and carbohydrate options, but it gets weird after that. The second place somehow belongs to Burger King, which is crazy because it beat some of the restaurants that are often regarded as healthier, like Panera Bread, which came in fourth. The full list of the top ten is as follows: Chipotle, Burger King, Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, KFC, Taco Bell, Panda Express, McDonald’s, Jimmy John’s and Whataburger.
Of course, none of these restaurants are the healthiest food, and all of them are guilty of adding extra preservatives into their food, but not every meal has to be extremely health conscious. It’s unrealistic to expect someone to have the time to cook and prep three healthy meals every day, so it’s important to be aware of what healthy fast food meals are available. Some great examples are the Chick-fil-A grilled chicken sandwich, the Chipotle Steak Salad or Panera’s Chicken Salad Sandwich.
It is okay to have a treat once in a while. Above all else, food is fuel, and one cannot be at their best if they’re always hungry and tired. On busier days, don’t be afraid to go get that Panda Express bowl.