Five of the worst burgers in the U.S.

Two pieces of bread. That's the bedrock of every hamburger on the planet. Here's the caveat: With the power to create comes the power to inflate. In fact, the average cheeseburger has ballooned from 333 to 600 calories in the last 20 years. (Learn this and other cool secrets by following me right here on Twitter.)

Some burgers even top out at 2000 calories. For this there's no greater evidence than the greasy bread-boats being served at our most popular burger shops. Sure, there are decent options out there, but more often than not the junk that comes stuffed between the buns is enough to turn Jessica Simpson into Homer Simpson. Like these five burgers listed below. They're gut bombs in the worst way. Luckily, Eat This, Not That! discovered healthier alternatives for each of them.

And remember: There are just as many nutritional minefields at your local supermarket, so arm yourself with this list of The Best Supermarket Foods of 2010!

Burger King NY Pizza Burger
2,530 calories
144 g fat (59 g saturated, 3.5 g trans)
3,780 mg sodium
CALORIE EQUIVALENT: 7.2 medium orders of McDonald’s French Fries

Burger King has recently opened what it's calling “Whopper Bars” in select cities around the world. The Whopper Bar lets you create your own Whoppers, and offers specialty Whoppers that aren’t served at regular BK locations. This astonishingly awful NY Pizza Burger is one of them. It's exactly what it sounds like—a pizza with burger and bacon and bun on top.

If you eat the entire thing, you’ll consume more calories than you should eat in an entire day, and a day and a half’s worth of sodium—not to mention the amount of saturated fat you would find in 59 strips of bacon. To be fair, BK says it feeds six people. But how often do you swing by fast food restaurants with five of your closest friends? Try the regular Whopper without mayo instead. Or, better yet, cook this amazing 340-calorie burger at home in the time it'd take you to get to the BK drivethru.