Carbohydrate-Guide

Think fast food and you can’t help but think of McDonald’s - more than 50 million people worldwide eat at one of the chain’s restaurants every day. Good news is you can eat there too, even if you are on a diet, just remember to steer clear of the Big Mac, the french fries, Chicken McNuggets and choose one of the handful of healthier alternatives.

You can always ask for a hamburger without the bun at McDonald’s, and you can now request a side salad instead of fries in the combo meals. Because of the concern for saturated fats we recommend you pass on the hamburger, even without the bun. Instead look at the salad menu. McDonald’s now offers several different meal-sized salads, such as the California Cobb with Grilled Chicken. With just a little work, you can tailor these salads to be much healthier.

First - for chicken salads, be sure to get the grilled chicken - crispy chicken is breaded and should be avoided.

Second - select a dressing with no added sugar: One of the Newman’s Own dressings (such as light balsamic or ranch) would be a good, or you can choose light mayonnaise.

McDonald’s has some premium sandwiches made with chicken. As with the salads, these are fine if you’re careful to order grilled, not crispy, chicken and then toss the buns and in some cases the bacon. The Fruit and Walnut Salad at McDonald’s sounds like harmless however the walnuts are candied so toss them.