Can I Make a Healthy Burger?

Can you make a healthy burger?

Can a burger be a healthy meal? Its a difficult question, much the same as if you asked the same thing about sausages. The question comes with how you make it. The best ingredients are always difficult to choose, as it depends on your diet, training goals and health conditions. Recent news about the contents of certain supermarket burgers tell you all you need to know about the benefits of making your own burgers if you want to know what's in them. Today we will look at the key ingredients to your home made burgers, looking at the nutritional value, and see if its possible to cook up something that tastes great and makes you feel even better.

Ingredient 1 – The Meat

Of course it wouldn't be a burger without the meat. Although vegetarian options are available, we'll be looking at animal meats in this article, and approach vegetarian options another time. The question is, what meat is best?

Beef

Is beef a good choice?

Minced beef sometimes gets a raw deal, but the availability of lean minced beef nowadays means that you never need to have a high fat diet to enjoy some quality beef products. As you find with most meat products, beef is high in protein. In the case of a good sized burger (85g of beef) you are getting 23g of protein, with all of your essential amino acids. Given that you can use about 1.2g of protein per kilogram you weigh per day, that is a healthy amount of protein, allowing for quality exercise recovery and general health. Beef also contains high levels of niacin, which is essential for lowering blood cholesterol and processing fats, as well as high level of vitamin B12, important for cell regeneration. Beef is also high in zinc, a mineral needed for growth and tissue repair. Beef, even the extra lean varieties contain 8% of your RDA of fat, but in the grand scheme of your daily diet, this isn’t so bad. It can be high for cholesterol (85g of meat containing 22% of your RDA) but with the high levels of niacin and the use of egg as a binding agent, you can find that your HDL level is able to deal with the cholesterol well. Beef is also extremely high in levels of l-carnitine, a compound which increases the level of fat oxidisation, improving the use of fat as fuel.

Lamb

Does lamb make the healthiest burger?

Lamb as a meat can be quite fatty, and as such, even minced lamb contains a relatively high amount of fat. As good as this is for flavour, in 85g of lean lamb you get 16g of fat, with 8g of that being saturated fats. Lamb does contain a good amount of protein, though slightly less than beef at 14.5g per 85g serving. This means it is less effective for an athletic training programme, and doesn't help your case in fat burning, as proteins release chemicals in the brain that make you feel fuller, faster. Lamb is still high in niacin, B12 and zinc, just like beef, but the benefits of choosing lamb over beef are limited as it is also much lower in l-carnitine levels. The lamb burger might taste great with mint, but could well be a worse choice for your burger.

Pork

Does pork make for a good burger?

Lean pork mince is becoming more readily available, and although a pork based burger might sound strange, the hamburger is pork based. As for the meat quality, lean pork contains 17.8g of protein per 85g burger, better than lamb, but still lagging way behind the beef burger. With 4g of fat in your portion, pork has a slightly higher fat content than extra lean beef, but nothing to worry about, given that fat is essential for a healthy diet. Pork does have contain excellent levels of vitamin B1 (thiamin), which is essential for proper nerve function, and can be very good for those people who suffer from cramp. Pork also contains exceptional levels of selenium, which increases antioxidant production, so it's a winner if you're worried about free radicals.

Chicken

Chicken breast for the best burgers?

As far as a chicken burger goes, nobody wants minced chicken, so the standard chicken burger is usually a chicken breast. For comparison sake, lets say our chicken breast is 85g. Chicken contains 19.5g of protein in a serving, beating the pork and lamb, but still coming in behind the beef, though not by a long way. In addition to this, the level of fat in chicken is amazing compared to other meats. The 85g chicken breast contains less than 1g of fat, as long as you take the skin off, and that is phenomenal if you are trying to reduce calories. As for your added extras, chicken contains exceptional levels of niacin, more so than beef, as well as excellent levels of vitamin B6, which is important for cell growth, making chicken great for muscle growth. Chicken also contains excellent levels of glutamic acid, essential for brain activity, making your burgers smart!

Ingredient 2 – The Bread

After choosing the meat that suits you, you need the right bread. It might seem like the bread is the dullest part of the meal, but the right bread can give just the right balance to your burger.

Whole–Wheat

The whole-wheat types of bread have become popular within health circles for there nutritious values. Whole-wheat bread contains only 24g of carbohydrates per 2 slices, while 4g of that is fibre. That means you have an overall lower level of digestible carbohydrate than other breads. Commercially produced whole-wheat bread does have 3g of sugar in 2 slices, so other more organic options might be more appropriate for the diet conscious. The same can be said for the fairly high levels of salt, which are added in the bread making process of commercially produced loaves. On the plus side, it contains 12% of your daily magnesium, which is important for energy metabolism, and has high levels of thiamine and manganese.

White

White bread is a staple in most kitchens around the UK, and many other parts of the world. It is commercially made, and as such, has many refined ingredients. It has a lower carbohydrate level than pita bread, but higher than multi-grain, at 26g per 2 slices. As a fibre to starch balance, there is only 1.2g of fibre, meaning this bread is higher in calories than other breads, and this bread has 2g of added sugar to sweeten the deal. This type of bread does have good levels of thiamine and folic acid, which is good for pregnant and lactating women, but also has higher salt levels than other breads. Due to its high level of refinement, white bread has a higher level of glycemic index, meaning it increases blood sugar very quickly, so not great for diabetics if blood sugar control is difficult.

Does pita make you fitter?

Pita Bread

Pita bread usually comes in an oval shape, with an air pocket inside that allows you to add your contents to them easily. Pita are mostly carbohydrates at 33g, with 1.3g being fibre. As a white style of bread, they have limited fibre, but also low levels of salt. They have good levels of calcium and iron, both being 5% of your RDA in a good sized pita. They have a small amount of protein, and virtually no fat. A good choice as a burger holder, if lacking a little in real substance.

Multi – Grain

Multi-grain bread has added seeds to improve the quality of the nutrition in the bread. It contains 22g of carbohydrates in your average bun, with 4g coming from fibre. This means it offers good roughage for your digestive transit. It is low in sugar, as with many breads, and contains very low levels of salt compared with your other options. It addition, multi-grain bread also contains a large amount of your RDA manganese, which is great for enzyme creation, and good digestion. This is common with whole grain foods. Multi-grain therefore gives you great extra benefits and added taste.

Ingredient 3 – The condiment

After you choose your meat and bread, you will need your sauce. The flavour that makes the burger work for you! But which one will suit your healthy burger?

Tomato Ketchup

Is ketchup good for you?

Ketchup is full of flavour, but not a lot else. It is low in fat and cholesterol, so from that perspective you cannot go wrong, but is high in sugar, with 3g per 15g serving, you are adding extra calories to a potentially good meal. It is a good source of vitamin A, vital for eyesight, and vitamin C which is good for the immune system. Ketchup does have quite a large amount of salt, which isn't great to add on top of the bread, but low sodium versions are available. Just be careful not to smother your food in ketchup as the flavour can be overpowering, and the extra sugar and salt are unwanted extras.

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise is made using egg whites, mustard and vinegar. Those ingredients don't sound particularly nutritious, and that is the true story here. Even low calorie mayonnaise can have extraordinary levels of fat. A 15g serving contains 5g of mayonnaise, of which 1g is saturated. That's not doing you any favours, and the vitamin and mineral statistics don't give you much to cheer about either. Only excellent levels of vitamin K exist here, with most others being negligible. The egg whites do add some HDL cholesterol, which can help to reduce levels of blood cholesterol, but the general fat levels leaves you on negative gains.

Mustard

Is mustard the best for healthy burgers?

Mustard is made from the mustard seed, and as such, has its benefits in plant nutrition. First of all, with mild mustard, you are looking at virtually no calories, so its great for weight loss. It does contain relatively high levels of sodium, but no more than ketchup or mayonnaise. It is lacking in any positive vitamin or mineral content, with negligible amounts across the board, but seeing as your condiment is for flavour, not nutrition, mustard is a good choice.

Putting it Together

So, if you're looking for a healthy burger, you want either chicken, or extra lean beef. Either of those has a number of benefits without too many drawbacks. Beef packs more protein, getting you fuller, faster, but chicken has unbeatable fat content and excellent versatility. Use multi-grain or organic bread to wrap your burger, and add mustard for flavour. Always remember to add extra vegetables, like lettuce, tomato or onion for good vitamins and minerals, and if you're tempted by cheese, try a fat free cream cheese for good nutrition and flavour. If you're looking for extra flavour, try adding spices, they can be good for you add make things taste great! Find out which ones are best for you here.

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Happy eating!