A new study says that choosing restaurant food over fast food is not such a wise choice after all. Restaurant meals are full of just as many calories as greasy burgers and salty fries at a fast food joint.

A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that rather than focusing only on fast food, researchers should look at restaurant food; they should also realize that the food can actually be worse for a person than fast food.

Researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2003 to 2010 involving nearly 18,000 U.S. citizens. The University of Illinois researchers compared the nutrient and calorie consumption of people who regularly ate at restaurants with people who regularly eat fast food. They also examined the caloric intake from home-cooked meals versus restaurant meals.

The study revealed that restaurant foods contained more nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, potassium and vitamins, Gazette Tribune reports. But, the foods also contained higher sodium and cholesterol contents than foods from fast food chains.

Additionally, meals cooked at home contained nearly 200 calories less than foods from fast food restaurants and normal restaurants. Both also contain 10 more milligrams of cholesterol and 10 more grams of fat than home-cooked meals.

A community and kinesiology health professor at the University of Illionois and author of the study, Ruopeng An, stated that those who ate at “full-service restaurants” consumed a significant amount more cholesterol per day than those who ate at home. An added that the additional cholesterol intake, “58 milligrams per day,” is about 20 percent of the recommended 300 milligrams per day.

In order to lower the risk of obesity and health issues that come along with it, researchers encourage people to begin preparing meals at home. Dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City Lori Rosenthal, who was not a participant or researcher involved in the study, said that when meals are prepared at home, “we know exactly what the foods we are eating contain.”

Rosenthal added that when dining at a restaurant, “we are leaving the ingredients up to the chef or fast food chain.”