Can you imagine American cuisine without a big and juicy hamburger looking so appetizing? Well, we permit ourselves to indulge in this delight quite often, but no-no, we don’t want to look big, puffy and juicy with these ‘happy meals’ and have a problem to fit in the biggest size of jeans.

 At first, make yourself a good cup of hot herbal tea and watch this video. What possibly can be in common between a burger and Mona Lisa also known as La Gioconda, a masterpiece– the 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar tree panel by Leonardo Da Vinci during Italian Renaissance? You will be amazed how a rough draft with Mona Lisa image (as an example) can be created today without any artistic brush and oil, but with help of an American favorite meal, high calorie burger. Click on the link below and enjoy this video!

                                                                                      mona_lisa_-_arbys 

 

                                                                   

There are so many burgers at our service. Famous McDonalds Hamburgers (250 cal), Cheeseburgers (300 cal), Double Cheeseburgers (440cal), Quarter Pounder with Cheese (540 cal), Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese (740 cal) (, Big Mac(540 cal), and other.

Burger Kings make for us Whoppers (670 cal), Double Whopper (900 cal), Triple Whopper 1130 cal.!!!), Triple Whopper with Mayo and Cheese (1070 cal), BK Quad Stacker (1000 cal), The Angus Steal Burger (640 cal).  Wendy’s menu is also rich in calories, but a little bit better: Jr. Hamburger (230 cal),  Jr. Cheeseburger (270 cal), Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger ((320), Double with Everything and Cheese (710 cal), even Triple with Everything and Cheese (980 cal), and Baconator (840 cal).

 There are many other burgers on the market. Did you try once Applebee’s Brewtus Steak Burger, which is described by the restaurant chain as “ten ounces of thick, juicy chopped sirloin burger topped with cheddar cheese and crispy Applewood smoked bacon and served on a toasted split-top bun?” Believe or not, there are 1390 calories which will make you look thick and stacky. Do you want that look?

The market offers us also Carl’s Jr. Famous Star (660 cal) and Super with Cheese (930 cal), Double Western Bacon (970 cal), Big Hanburger (1070 cal), then they go green with names, but not lower in calories:  Chili Cheeseburger (830 cal) and Jalapeno Burger (720 cal). Is this a joke? They offer The Low Carb Six Dollar Burger with 1,130 calories?! Is it means that for only six dollars you can pack on minimum six pounds and look as big and juicy as this burger?

These high calorie hamburgers are the opposite road to your healthy diet and a little healthier life. What about saturated fat, sodium content or other indicators of health? Can we disregard calories in burgers with traditional beef? Nutrition Facts tell you that amount per serving: calories 270, Total fat 21 g or 32%, Saturated Fat -9.0 g or 45%; Cholesterol 290 mg or 18%, Sodium–290 mg or 12%. Total carbohydrates –4.0 g or 1%; Dietary Fiber–1.0 g or4%, Protein–18 g; Vitamin A–2%; Calcium–2%, Vitamin C–0%; Iron–15%.

American cuisine is well known with its favotite mega-burgers looking so appetizing to us, if we don’t count calories and forget  about saturated fat, sodium level, calories and other indicators of health. The calorie content of a hamburger is relatively high, but its nutritional value is low. Nutrition is very important. Without sufficient vitamins and minerals our body cannot properly to metabolize food energy. When we eat empty calories’ foods, our bodies don’t get so needed energy because it is stored as body fat. And it will stay as fat in our body until we’ll ingest necessary vitamins and minerals at some later time.

Food scientists and  nutritionists are working on creation of guilt-free burgers with fewer than 300 calories each. Hopefully, we’ll be able to eat healthier burgers and still do not blow our diet, and pack on additional pounds.

Source: www.burgergrease.com ;  http://caloriecount.about.com ; http://abcnews.go.com ;

Text by Svetlana Konnikova.  Copyright 2009