Who doesn't love hamburgers? This sandwich is almost everyone's favorite, whether you're grabbing one for a quick lunch or light dinner in a fast-food restaurant or drive-thru. It's truly an American classic, and it's readily available, affordable, and tasty. However, many of us do not understand what's really inside this famous food. There's more beyond the juicy patty. Take note of the following things you need to be aware of when ordering your favorite burger, and here are some reasons to convince you that it's better to limit them and opt for healthier alternatives:

1. Ammonia

Pink slime, also known as Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB), is used as a cheap ground beef filler. Although several fast-food stores stopped using the ingredient due to controversy, many ground meat products still contain it, even those used by restaurants.

2. Fat

According to the Heart Organization, trans fat, naturally found in meat, raises cholesterol levels and lowers good cholesterol. Moreover, it causes health risks, such as heart diseases. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now allows something to be marked trans fat-free if it contains less than half a gram. Although some fast-food chains follow this, their burgers still have unhealthy fat. What's worse, restaurants are allowed to have 2.5 grams. Moreover, there are almost 50 grams of fat into each burger in some food chains. That’s beyond the healthy range, which is 18 to 31 grams a day (calorie intake varies).

3. Calories

Believe it or not, a single hamburger sandwich alone contains more calories than what our body needs. Furthermore, it is loaded with sodium, carbs, and fat. 

4. Sodium

As mentioned earlier, due to a burger's high sodium content, this leads people to risk for high blood pressure, stroke, and other kidney diseases.

5. Additives

Most food chains use many kinds of additives such as sodium phosphate and nitrates for different purposes like preservation and texturization of meat. Although most additives are claimed to be safe by the FDA, these chemicals are highly-processed — which is pretty bad for your health.

6. Not eco-friendly 

Producing beef needs more resources (e.g., fertilizer, land, and water) than other kinds of meat. Not only that, but cattle also produce methane. To create one patty of a beef burger, it takes 660 gallons of water. Yes, you heard it right.

7. More than a few cows

To make beef of a single fast food hamburger, there have to be hundreds of various cattle since ground meat made from all chain suppliers is usually combined into one batch of meat. The bad thing is, this poses a high chance of getting food contamination since one infected cow can affect many batches.

8. Other waste and by-products

Just when you thought that your burger is made directly from a cow, well, you are wrong the entire time. The ground beef in making fast food burgers is mixed with by-products and other waste such as cartilage, bone, nerve tissue, and connective tissue.

9. Serving size

The recommended serving size of a burger's meat is 4 ounces. However, most restaurants serve more than that, usually, it weighs between 8 to 12 ounces.

On a brighter spectrum, you could still enjoy your favorite sandwich and choose to be healthier by eating a plant-based burger or preparing a healthy burger from scratch at home.