It is hard to believe that the modern day burger is only about 75 years old. Today, for most people this food is a regular staple in their diets and many cannot imagine life without it. Most of our population today was brought up on burgers in one way or another. According to the documentary Fast Food Nation, the average American eats 3 hamburgers per week.
Yet today we know that this food item is tied to a lot of controversy; it is blamed for being one of the most unhealthiest foods one can eat. Is this a fair claim? Let’s address this in detail and see why the burger is considered one of the most desired and deadly foods.
The Traditional Beef Burger
The most common and traditional burger looks something like this:
- White, heavily refined and nutrient-stripped bun (sugar, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, etc.)
- Lowest quality beef from factory farmed animals (fed GMO feed, given hormones, drugs, etc.)
- A slice or two of the lowest quality, highly processed cheese (modified ingredients, from factory farmed animals, preservatives, etc.)
- A leaf or two of Iceberg lettuce (conventionally grown with pesticides & synthetic fertilizer)
- A slice or two of tomato and/or onion (conventionally grown with pesticides & synthetic fertilizer)
- A slice or two of a pickle (conventionally produced with vinegar, sugar & preservatives)
- Some highly processed condiments like ketchup, relish, mayonnaise and/or mustard (include sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup, and preservatives)
- Comes from fast food restaurants
*If it is a processed veggie burger, it would include GMO corn and/or soy and normally some other refined ingredients.
To add to this, the average burger is:
- Around 500 (of mostly empty and/or harmful) calories (which is about a quarter of all the calories one should have in a day based on a 2,000 calorie diet)
- Contains around 1000 mg of sodium (which is about half of all the sodium one should have in a day)
- High in saturated fat
- High in trans fat
- High in cholesterol
- High in protein
- High in refined carbohydrates
- Low in fiber
- Low in natural nutrient density
Now how does that stimulate your appetite? Remember, this is the average burger too. Most extremes at fast food places include multiple beef patties, cheese slices and bacon coming in at a whopping 1000 calories on average, with 2000 mg of sodium! (This is not even considering any drinks or sides that may go along with it). The fat content is almost entirely made up of unhealthy fats which lead to elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Many would assume the high protein is a positive thing, but it is not. The average American to this day worries about getting enough protein while they get too much. High protein diets are linked to liver and kidney problems, and internal acidosis, which leads to a slew of diseases like osteoporosis. The refined carbohydrates spike our insulin and give our pancreas an unnecessary workout. This is not even mentioning the chemicals, drugs and hormones included in this food, or high-heat grilling involved (produces carcinogenic heterocyclic amines), which add to numerous health and weight problems. And so, is it any wonder we have the weight, heart disease, diabetes and cancer stats we do today?
One may wonder too, what drives most people to flock to burgers like moths to light? We know this food is one of the most popular choices for people today with the fast food restaurant prevalence, how we celebrate barbecue season, camping trips and other holidays clearly indicating this. When we begin to examine what drives people to desire burgers so much, several items stand out. An addiction to fatty, greasy, fried and salty foods is one set of prime reasons, with convenience being a major second. The fact that most of us do not give any regard to what our bodies really need, what helps them or what hurts them and plead nutritional ignorance is also a sign of our desire for burgers. The burger seems hardy and satisfying, and most erroneously see it as a food that does a good job at fulfilling the requirements to eat based on the 4 food groups.
So is there a healthier burger than this? For sure. But can we actually call it healthy? That is a tough one to answer. While there are healthier burgers, I really don’t think that any burger is capable of being classified as an optimally healthy food item that can be depended on to add nutritional benefits only, without causing any harm.
My Journey With Burgers
I was one of the few individuals who did not grow up with burgers. With a European background, I was no stranger to beef patties or the “schnitzel”, but not familiar at all with the traditional American Burger. Thankfully, even after moving to North America, our household was still largely burger-free, as my parents were not into burgers and fast food was never an option for us. As such, even in those days, when I still used to eat meat, I had no appetite for burgers. Something about that ground down meat and not knowing what is really in it, never sat well with me either. And so, when I transitioned to a 100% plant-based diet, I never went the route of veggie burgers for I was never used to or interested in eating burgers in the past. Eventually I learned about all the delicious homemade recipes for bean or legume patties. They looked great and they sounded great from a health, nutrition and taste perspective, but I still had no motivation to try any personally. That was….until one day.
As I love to get creative in the kitchen, and experiment with whole, natural food in a variety of delicious ways, one day I had the desire to experiment with some bean patties. To date, I have only made a handful of different batches, as I like to try out new recipes, but each time they proved to be very delicious! My biggest motivation factor for doing so was learning how to make a homemade falafel (cooked, not fried), more than any kind of burger. They were a success! I would still not eat these on any kind of regular basis, as they are a heavily cooked food item and not acid-alkaline balanced, but it is nice to know that this different food option is there for the odd time.
I know that for many of us the idea of giving up burgers on the spot or entirely, is not a probable option. Therefore to help you transition, listed in this article is some information about taking steps to eating the healthiest burger possible. The higher you go on the levels, the better and healthier things get for your present and future health.
Healthy Burger Characteristics
Level 1: Higher end restaurant beef, chicken or other meat burger. (Burgers from fast food restaurants, or fast food restaurants in general should NEVER be an option for serious, health conscious individuals.)
Level 2: Higher end restaurant veggie burger OR homemade beef burger. (This can vary greatly depending on the quality of ingredients used in the restaurant or at home.)
For the healthiest homemade beef burger choose:
- whole grain, least processed buns, such as Ezekiel Organic Sprouted Grain Buns
- organic and/or local, grass-fed, pasture-raised beef or other meat
- no cheese
- organic vegetables like tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, avocado, eggplant, etc.
- homemade pickles, brine pickles, or least processed pickles
- homemade condiments, or least processed, organic condiments
*Or better yet, skip the bun (bread) and have a beef, or veggie patty with lots of fresh vegetables
Level 3: Homemade veggie burger
For the healthiest homemade veggie burger, follow all the same tips above, just substitute the meat for a homemade bean patty. (See instructions below.)
Level 4: No burgers
Ultimately, all burgers are too high on acidic ingredients (meat, refined grains, beans); too high on heat treated ingredients (too many nutrients destroyed); too low on vegetables; and can be too high on fat, protein and sodium. While the odd one can be enjoyed as part of an optimal and well balanced acid-alkaline diet, there are just too many nutritional downfalls to be able to call this any kind of optimally healthy meal.
My Homemade Veggie Burger
Finally to finish off and make this the more practical and useful for you, here is an example of what I would consider the healthiest burger one can eat. I made this recently (see photo) and it turned out extremely delicious, not to mention as nutritious as possible!
Bean Patty: Homemade recipe of your choice like the Spicy Falafel Recipe (just squash to make a patty instead of a ball for a falafel). Use dry beans that you can cook yourself, not canned, as much as possible, and avoid using any oils.
Vegetables: A few slices of different organic veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, green lettuce, avocado, bell peppers, eggplant, etc. Pack in as many as you can.
Pickles: Homemade pickles, from local, organic cucumbers, fermented using a brine recipe preferably, instead of vinegar.
Condiment: Homemade vegan mayonnaise. To make this super delicious and versatile sauce, I throw in about a handful of raw cashews into my Vitamix high-power blender; one fresh, whole lemon or just its juice; a sprinkle of unrefined sea salt or Himalayan salt and dried chili peppers or cayenne pepper; as well as a bit of water. (Add enough water to get ingredients moving, not stuck as a paste…you can always add more, so start with about 1/4 cup and work until you get a mayonnaise like consistency.)
Conclusion
Depending on your definition of healthy, you may still choose to see a burger as a healthy food depending on the quality of the ingredients it is prepared with. What is for sure is that a typical burger will never be optimally healthy, and if you are interested in optimal health, then you also don’t want to excuse eating it with everything in moderation.
If you want to eat a burger of the highest quality ingredients possible, then do so and enjoy it—guilt is more toxic to your body than most burgers. Simply balance it out that day, and through your diet with highly natural, wholesome and alkaline food options.
To your best health!