CHEAT DAY PROTEIN

100% BEEF! ONCE THE FOODSTUFF OF LATE NIGHTS AND CHEAT DAYS, THE BURGER HAS OUTGROWN ITS JUNK STATUS TO BECOME THE ULTIMATE PROTEIN FIX. HERE WE HAIL BRITAIN’S BEST

Our rundown of the finest, filthiest (but secretly quite healthy) burgers in Britain

From midnight grease paperwrapped indulgences to gourmet innovations, no fast food item has colonised our pop culture and our palates quite so dominantly as the beefburger. But it’s time to lose the guilt. Because not only does its unctuous simplicity provide a unique canvas for gastronomic experimentation, it also forms the base for a host of immunity, metabolism and muscle-building benefits, with each hearty relish heaping fat-searing, health-giving spices into each mouthful.

In fact, you need only look at a plain burger in a bun to see its impeccable 2:1 ratio of musclerepairing carbs-to-protein, or listen to the sizzle of a 90% beef patty to be reminded of its good fats and formidable profile of amino acids. As nutritionist Joe Sexton explains over the following pages, when done right, the burger is the perfect vehicle for hitting your macros with flavour to spare. Call them dirty gains, if you like.

As a long-overdue celebration of America’s greatest export, we’ve compiled the finest patty and bun combos in the UK – from GBK in Battersea to Fat Hippo in Newcastle. Bring napkins.