Double cheeseburger with onion,selective focus and blank space (iStock)
Burgers are bad, right? Nope. The dish could actually be a better choice than a so-called superfood salad if you’re trying to trim down.
Healthy burgers made of a bun, beef, lamb or chicken patty, a slice of bacon, cheese and lettuce could contain fewer calories than cafe-style “superfood” salads that are loaded with high calorie haloumi, nuts, seeds and fatty dressings, a nutrition expert says.
But before you reach for a greasy Big Mac or Huxtaburger and fries, there are a few rules to consider.
A nutrition analysis shows the average “superfood” bowl — made up of ingredients including quinoa, chicken and feta — contains at least 820 calories, while a burger has about 740 calories, according to a leading Melbourne-based fitness coach and diet expert.
“The theory that a salad is healthy versus an unhealthy burger is misconstrued,” Jacob Schepis, of JPS Health & Fitness, told News Corp Australia.
“They add a lot of tasty extras to a salad and it ends up becoming more calorie-dense than a burger.
“That’s not to say a salad doesn’t contain more micronutrients, vitamins and minerals than the burger, but at the end of the day, eating more calories than what we think isn’t healthy either.
“That’s why sometimes, a burger actually has less calories than a salad.”
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