Craving a burger? In today’s world, we have many burger options: traditional beef burgers, poultry or seafood burgers, vegan burgers made from legumes and grains, and burgers created in a lab. We break down which burger to choose based on your individual goals.

When your focus is to reduce sodium:

We need small amounts of sodium for good health, but Americans typically consume 2-3 times more sodium than optimal. Reasons to reduce sodium include lowering the risk of high blood pressure, reducing blood pressure levels, and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. 90% of the sodium we consume comes from salt (a combination of sodium and chloride), and the bulk of our salt tends to come from packaged and processed foods – hello, burgers! The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day and an ideal limit of less than 1,500 mg per day for most adults, especially for those with high blood pressure. Reducing sodium by 1,000 mg daily can improve blood pressure and heart health. 

The 2 lowest sodium burger choices:

• 100% beef patty (no added salt):  90mg sodium

• 100% ground chicken patty (no added salt):  125mg sodium

The 2 highest sodium burger choices:

• Burger King Crispy Chicken:  820mg sodium

• Impossible Burger:  370mg sodium

Our suggestion:

• Choose a 100% beef burger on a whole grain bun and top it with lettuce and tomato for a lower sodium option.

• If you prefer vegetarian or vegan burgers, read the food labels carefully, as some contain very high amounts of sodium.

When your focus is to reduce calories:

Enjoying a lower-calorie meal with a burger often means replacing fries with a salad. Go one step further and choose one of these options:

• Costco salmon patty:  170 calories

• Impossible Chicken Patty OR 100% ground chicken patty:  180 calories

When your focus is protein:

Proteins are the major structural component of all cells, including muscle, body organs, hair, and skin, and an important part of a strong immune system. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and the combination and amount of amino acids in different foods determine the quality of the protein. A food that contains all 9 of the amino acids essential for human health is considered a complete protein.

All animal proteins are complete proteins; the only plant foods containing complete proteins are soy, quinoa, pistachios, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. All plants contain some amino acids, and eating various plant foods throughout the day ensures that we consume the amino acids we need for health.

Our picks for burgers with high-quality protein:

• 100% beef patty

• 100% ground chicken patty

“Fake meat” plant-based burgers from Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger contain varying types and amounts of essential amino acids, and although they contain similar amounts of protein per ounce to animal proteins, there is some research that suggests the protein in these burgers is not quite as high quality as animal protein. That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy one of these burgers; just be sure to consume a wide variety of protein sources throughout the day (soy, legumes, nuts, seeds) so that you meet your body’s amino acid needs. More traditional veggie burgers, unless made with soy, quinoa, pistachios, hemp seeds and/or chia seeds also are not complete protein sources.

When you’re looking for healthy sources of fat:

Red meat is well known for containing saturated fat, the type of fat that is highly associated with cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends limiting saturated fat to no more than 5-6% of total calories. For someone consuming 2000 calories per day, that’s no more than 120 calories, or 13 grams, of saturated fat per day. For someone consuming 1400 calories, the goal is no more than 70 calories, or 8 grams of saturated fat per day. Typically plant-based burgers contain very low amounts of saturated fat, but Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers contain more saturated fat than you might expect. For comparison:

100% beef patty:  15gm saturated fat
Beyond Burger:  5gm saturated fat
Impossible Burger:  6gm saturated fat

Our picks for burgers low in saturated fat:

• Salmon patty (bonus – it’s high in heart-protective monounsaturated fats as well as low in saturated fat)

• 100% ground chicken patty

Our suggestion:  Read food labels carefully for the amount of saturated fat in various plant-based burgers because there is a wide variation.

When your focus is the environment:

It’s probably not a surprise that plant sources of protein have far less impact on the environment than animal proteins (unless you’re talking about insect proteins and yes – there are companies actively working on developing burgers using insects as the protein source). According to the U.K. climate change website Carbon Brief meat and dairy industries create 7.1 gigatons of greenhouses gases annually—that’s 14.5% of total man-made emissions. But beef is by far the biggest offender, generating 60 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of meat produced—that’s more than twice the emissions of the next most polluting food, lamb. Another way meat contributes to climate change is via the destruction of forests and other habitats to make way for pasture, and for the growing of fodder to be eaten by cattle. If you’re looking for ways that you personally can impact the environment, switching to plant-based burgers is one of the biggest. According to the Sierra Club, producing the 50 billion burgers that Americans eat each year generates 268 million tons of CO2-equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas emissions, or 3.7 percent of the country's total. Most of those emissions come from the methane that cows naturally release in the course of their digestion.

“Fake meats” like Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger create plant-based meats that mimic the taste and texture of beef in factories. Even though these fake meats are highly processed, they create 10-11% less greenhouse gasses than beef. These types of meats also use less water and land than beef.

Our picks for burgers that have the least environmental impact:

• Plant-based burgers made from legumes and mushrooms because both of these ingredients actually enrich the soil while using far less water. A couple of examples:  Dr. Praeger’s Heirloom Bean Veggie Burger and Amy’s Organic Black Bean Veggie Burger

• Plant-based burgers made from soy and wheat because while they often are farmed using intensive practices, they still use less energy, land and water than beef. Examples:  Morningstar Farm’s Vegan Meat Lovers Burger and Boca Original Vegan Veggie Burger

Note:  while these plant-based burgers contain protein, the total protein content may be less than in beef burgers. Read the nutrition facts label carefully!

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sodium. https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/sodium.htm  published 12-21-21; accessed 2-27-23

American Heart Association. Why Should I Limit Sodium? https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/answers-by-heart/why-should-i-limit-sodium.pdf  accessed 2-27-23 

Well + Good. Isadora Baum. 5 Delicious Plant-Based Foods that are Secretly Complete Proteins. https://www.wellandgood.com/complete-plant-proteins/ published 6-2-2020; accessed 2-27-23

van Vliet S, Bain JR, Muehlbauer MJ, Provenza FD, Kronberg SL, Pieper CF, Huffman KM. A metabolomics comparison of plant-based meat and grass-fed meat indicates large nutritional differences despite comparable Nutrition Facts panels. Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 5;11(1):13828. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-93100-3. PMID: 34226581; PMCID: PMC8257669.

American Heart Association. Saturated Fat. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats last reviewed 11-1-21; accessed 3-1-23

Harvard Health Publishing. Emily Gelsomin. Impossible and Beyond:  How Healthy are these Meatless Burgers? https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/impossible-and-beyond-how-healthy-are-these-meatless-burgers-2019081517448 published 1-24-22; accessed 2-28-23

Hive Life. Sukhveer Kaur. Japanese FoodTech Startup BugMo Eager to Launch it’s Newest Umami-Packed Cricket Burger https://hivelife.com/bugmo-foodtech/  published 9-26-22; accessed 3-1-23

Forbes. David Vetter. Got Beef? Here’s What Your Hamburger is Doing to the Climate. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2020/10/05/got-beef-heres-what-your-hamburger-is-doing-to-the-climate/?sh=3cb6e15d5206 published 10-5-20; accessed 3-1-23

Sierra. James Steinbauer. Which is the Greatest Burger in the Land? https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2020-2-march-april/taste-test/which-greenest-burger-land  published 3-4-20; accessed 3-1-23

Knowable Magazine. Bob Holmes. How Sustainable are Fake Meats? https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2022/how-sustainable-are-fake-meats published 7-20-22; accessed 3-1-23

Dr. Praeger’s. Heirloom Bean Veggie Burger https://drpraegers.com/our-food/heirloom-bean-veggie-burgers accessed 3-1-23

MorningStar Farms. Vegan Meat Lovers Burger https://www.morningstarfarms.com/en_US/products/veggie-burgers/msf-veggie-burgers-meat-lovers-vegan-burger.html accessed 3-1-23

Amy’s. Organic Black Bean Veggie Burger https://www.amys.com/our-foods/organic-black-bean-veggie-burger  accessed 3-1-23

Boca. Original Vegan Veggie Burger. https://www.bocaburger.com/products/00759283334455  accessed 3-1-23

Author:  Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDCES, CPT, CHWC