The One Breakfast Item You Should Never Order From McDonald’s, According To Health Experts

Eating breakfast out is one of the most fun ways to start off a relaxing weekend. Sometimes, running to a fast food restaraunt is an easy way to do this, and satisfy your cravings quickly. If your chain of choice is the classic McDonald’s, health experts have noted that there is one menu item there you might want to be weary of for your overall health and/if you are trying to lose weight.

After researching and speaking to health experts ourselves, we’ve gathered reasons why the popular McDonald’s “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes and Large Biscuit” isn’t the best choice on the menu for your health! If you, like many customers out there frequently order this item, read on for tips on why it’s best in moderation (if at all).

As registered dietitian and nutritionist Jill Corleone, RDN, LD, writes for Livestrong, all the Big Breakfast meals at McDonald’s have more than 700 calories, and the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes and a large biscuit is “high in calories, fat and sodium” with 1,150 calories, 60 grams of total fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, 2,260 milligrams of sodium, 116 grams of carbs, 7 grams of fiber and 36 grams of protein. Yikes!

It’s important to remember that high intakes of saturated fat can increase your cholesterol levels, which Corleone notes can increase your risk of heart disease. Also, many continue to turn to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which suggests you limit your intake to “less than 10 percent of calories, or no more than 22 grams on a 2,000-calorie diet.”

While this isn’t the most shocking revelation, it’s still notable. As Krissy Gasbarre writes for Eat This, Not That, this is a belly buster—”McDonald’s describes the Big Breakfast with Hotcakes as ‘a warm biscuit, savory hot sausage, fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy hash browns, and golden brown hotcakes with a side of real butter and the sweet flavor of maple.’ (Notice they don’t say “real maple syrup.”

This, Gasbarre says, might tell you that “you don’t even need to read the syrup package to know there’s a lot of fructose in there.” Oof! She also reiterates what Corleone said before, how the “Big Breakfast with Hotcakes and Biscuit” meal is one of the highest-calorie items on McDonald’s entire menu, even beating out the “Double Quarter Pounder Combo Meal” that has 1,270 calories.”Those heavy carbs, the saturated fat, the fried items: this is not a recipe to feel energized for the day,” she continues. “Unless you’re splitting this with a couple other people, stay away from McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Hotcakes.”

We have to agree!