The Healthiest McDonald's Menu Items

Despite its considerable efforts, people still don't look to McDonald's when they want a healthy meal. Its reputation on wellness is mixed, though what people might not know about the international fast food chain is that they've made many changes to their menu with nutrition in mind.

The Healthiest McDonald's Menu Items Gallery

Once you look past the obviously unhealthy items like the sugar-spiked milkshakes and burgers piled high with bacon, there are actually plenty of opportunities to make a lighter choice at McDonald's. We know you're probably going into your McDonald's visit with some type of food that you'd like to order in mind. If you're craving a burger, for instance, you might not be pleased when we tell you to order the salad. And it's not really fair to compare a vegetable-heavy salad bowl with a bacon-heavy breakfast sandwich anyhow. So we looked into each category of the menu and picked the healthiest options from each.

What makes an item healthy? Well, that's up for debate. But generally we imagine that, when visiting a fast food joint, you're looking to limit calories, saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars and maximize the nutrition in the food you're eating.

McDonald's lists all of this information online; we consulted their American menu for all nutritional data, so this might vary if you're looking to eat at McDonald's around the world. You can look for yourself here or consult our list of the healthiest items on the menu.