Restaurant Choices to Healthier Eating
Mount Sinai School of Medicine provides information on maintaining health and vitality in middle age and beyond. The following information is based on their December 2006 article in "Focus on Healthy Aging".
Your plate is getting bigger and you may not even realize it. Restaurant portion sizes have ballooned, leaving Americans more and more confused about how much they should be eating. A study in the September 5 Annals of Internal Medicine polled 105 people who ate at fast-food restaurants, and found that the majority significantly underestimated the caloric content of their meals.
In addition to portion, restaurant meals are generally very high in salt, high in fat, and low in fiber. This is a problem for the aging population because they often have more diseases related to cholesterol, fat and sugar intake, such as heart disease and diabetes.
In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged the food service industry to reduce meal portion sizes, but it doesn’t look as though restaurants are going to comply anytime soon. The solution isn’t to stop eating out, but to make better choices. You can replace burger and fries with grilled chicken and a side salad or a grilled chicken Caesar Salad. You can ask for olive oil and apple cider vinegar or red-wine vinegar. You can exchange mashed potatoes for a small salad and replace cole slaw with peas or green beans.
Here are some suggestions for making better restaurant choices:
1. Before you go to a restaurant, go on-line and plan your meal on the basis of nutritional value. If the restaurant doesn’t have any healthy choices, skip it. Check out the menu by asking the server to look at the menu before being seated.
2) Cut it in half. As soon as your meal arrives, ask for a to-go box and save half for later, or split it with your dining partner.
3) Don’t overdose on protein. You need protein, but you don’t need to eat more than 6 ounces at one sitting to get it. Each serving of chicken or beef you eat should be no bigger than a deck of cards or the palm of your hand.
4) Forego the fryer. Get your entree grilled, steamed, broiled, or poached rather than fried and you’ll avoid a lot of fat and unnecessary calories.
5) Eat your veggies. Instead of starchy potatoes and white rice, which offer little nutritional value, order steamed broccoli, spinach or beans.
6) Ask for substitutions. Don’t be afraid to change the recipe on high-fat entrees. If a dish comes with sour cream, ask for salsa instead. Switch out creamy Alfredo for red pasta sauce. And ask for mustard instead of mayonnaise on your sandwiches.
Restaurants want your business. They will either accommodate you or lose you. I enjoy waitresses who will provide me with fresh lemon and water for a beverage and exchange the potatoes for peas, broccoli or green beans. Instead of macaroni salad, they provide a small bowl of vegetable-beef-barley soup. The price stays the same and the waitresses get a bigger tip for helping me eat a nutritionally-healthy lunch or dinner. They actually enjoy knowing my preferences and remember me since I stay with restaurants that look to help me stay healthy. Mostly, I like Mediterranean, Chinese, Greek and Italian foods, but I eliminate the pizza, fried foods, sugar and alcohol.
In addition, I know my numbers. I have a blood pressure wrist cuff and a glycemic meter and I get a blood lipid profile every three months. I try to maintain a healthy weight and eat foods low in fat, cholesterol, and salt, and avoid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, alcohol and quit smoking 34 years ago. I eat fish like herring, sardines, haddock, salmon and other fish high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I read nutrition facts on all foods I purchase and try to reduce carbohydrate intake. I seek out healthy products and research whole food information. Fresh lemon has been shown to cut down the risk of kidney stones and help with short term memory.
I avoid coffee and enjoy a cup or two of tea a day. I avoid prescription drugs and use very few supplements. However, I do believe in magnesium and CoQ10 and a multiple vitamin for seniors.
Your plate is getting bigger and you may not even realize it. Restaurant portion sizes have ballooned, leaving Americans more and more confused about how much they should be eating. A study in the September 5 Annals of Internal Medicine polled 105 people who ate at fast-food restaurants, and found that the majority significantly underestimated the caloric content of their meals.
In addition to portion, restaurant meals are generally very high in salt, high in fat, and low in fiber. This is a problem for the aging population because they often have more diseases related to cholesterol, fat and sugar intake, such as heart disease and diabetes.
In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged the food service industry to reduce meal portion sizes, but it doesn’t look as though restaurants are going to comply anytime soon. The solution isn’t to stop eating out, but to make better choices. You can replace burger and fries with grilled chicken and a side salad or a grilled chicken Caesar Salad. You can ask for olive oil and apple cider vinegar or red-wine vinegar. You can exchange mashed potatoes for a small salad and replace cole slaw with peas or green beans.
Here are some suggestions for making better restaurant choices:
1. Before you go to a restaurant, go on-line and plan your meal on the basis of nutritional value. If the restaurant doesn’t have any healthy choices, skip it. Check out the menu by asking the server to look at the menu before being seated.
2) Cut it in half. As soon as your meal arrives, ask for a to-go box and save half for later, or split it with your dining partner.
3) Don’t overdose on protein. You need protein, but you don’t need to eat more than 6 ounces at one sitting to get it. Each serving of chicken or beef you eat should be no bigger than a deck of cards or the palm of your hand.
4) Forego the fryer. Get your entree grilled, steamed, broiled, or poached rather than fried and you’ll avoid a lot of fat and unnecessary calories.
5) Eat your veggies. Instead of starchy potatoes and white rice, which offer little nutritional value, order steamed broccoli, spinach or beans.
6) Ask for substitutions. Don’t be afraid to change the recipe on high-fat entrees. If a dish comes with sour cream, ask for salsa instead. Switch out creamy Alfredo for red pasta sauce. And ask for mustard instead of mayonnaise on your sandwiches.
Restaurants want your business. They will either accommodate you or lose you. I enjoy waitresses who will provide me with fresh lemon and water for a beverage and exchange the potatoes for peas, broccoli or green beans. Instead of macaroni salad, they provide a small bowl of vegetable-beef-barley soup. The price stays the same and the waitresses get a bigger tip for helping me eat a nutritionally-healthy lunch or dinner. They actually enjoy knowing my preferences and remember me since I stay with restaurants that look to help me stay healthy. Mostly, I like Mediterranean, Chinese, Greek and Italian foods, but I eliminate the pizza, fried foods, sugar and alcohol.
In addition, I know my numbers. I have a blood pressure wrist cuff and a glycemic meter and I get a blood lipid profile every three months. I try to maintain a healthy weight and eat foods low in fat, cholesterol, and salt, and avoid sugar, high fructose corn syrup, alcohol and quit smoking 34 years ago. I eat fish like herring, sardines, haddock, salmon and other fish high in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. I read nutrition facts on all foods I purchase and try to reduce carbohydrate intake. I seek out healthy products and research whole food information. Fresh lemon has been shown to cut down the risk of kidney stones and help with short term memory.
I avoid coffee and enjoy a cup or two of tea a day. I avoid prescription drugs and use very few supplements. However, I do believe in magnesium and CoQ10 and a multiple vitamin for seniors.
posted by Stan Kent at
10:31 PM
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