Discover what to order when you're on a diet
With the success of Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me film - in which he ate every meal for a month at McDonald's - the Golden Arches has received a lot of attention for the unhealthiness of its food. Of course, most of us already know that if we're trying to lose weight or watch our diet for health reasons, Mickey D's is not the best choice for dinner.
But realistically speaking, many of us are likely to end up there at one time or another - when the kids are lobbying for McNuggets, when you need a quick bite on the road or when you're out running errands and need to feed the whole family fast. Here's our guide to choosing wisely depending on the regimen you're following.
Atkins: Order any of the unbreaded chicken sandwiches or salads - for example, one of the grilled chicken options without the salad and bread - or plain burgers, and ask for no cheese (processed cheese contains added carbohydrates), no ketchup (contains sugar) or any other condiments. The egg-based McMuffin sandwiches can be eaten minus the bread rolls. Avoid the sodas (including Diet Coke), milkshakes and juices, and go for the Evian.
Weight Watchers: The world is technically your oyster with the Points system, but keep in mind some options could use up half your points in one go, while others (the plain hamburger [6 points] and Grilled Chicken Deluxe sandwich minus the mayo [6 points]) are better options. Also keep in mind that points don't really take into account salt, fibre or saturated fat levels. Check www.weightwatchers.co.uk for full points information.
Slimming World: Stick to salads without the dressing, the Quorn sandwich minus the bun, cheese and condiments, the fruit bag or apple on Green days. On Red days, go for the plain grilled chicken or burgers with no bun, cheese, or condiments.
Low-salt diet: The Food Standards Agency recommends a daily salt intake of 6,000 milligrams. The Garden Side Salad without dressing is low in salt at 250mg, as are most of the drinks (the coffee drinks have 250mg salt). The desserts are relatively low in salt or are salt-free, except for the Cadbury's chocolate donut and the yoghurts, which have moderately higher amounts. The fruit bag has only trace amounts. The other foods on the menu have from 500mg to 5,000mg of salt, most in the range of 2,000-3,000mg. Even the Crispy Chicken salads have between 2,300 and 4,100mg of salt.
Low-sugar diet: Remove all buns, which contain added sugar high on the ingredients list, and avoid the entire dessert menu, unless you're allowed fructose, in which case the fruit bag and apple are within limits. The egg-based McMuffin sandwiches can be eaten minus the bread rolls, and the Chicken McNuggets, Chicken Selects, Fish Fingers, French Fries and Garden Side Salad without dressing are also low in sugar. For drinks, stick to Evian.
Low-cholesterol, low-fat diets: Beware the partially-hydrogenated rapeseed oil that many of McDonald's foods are cooked in, which are just as bad as saturated fats. Also avoid red-meat sandwiches such as beefburgers, cheeseburgers, Big Macs and so on. They contain cholesterol. Opt instead for grilled chicken salads with balsamic dressing, or the grilled chicken or Quorn sandwiches minus buns, cheese and condiments. Satisfy sweet cravings with the fruit bag and apple.