Restaurant Nutrition Facts
If you are watching what you eat, you need to become familiar with restaurant nutrition facts.
Restaurant foods can often be misleading. When you don’t prepare the food yourself, it is important to know what is in it. Some restaurants list nutritional information for some of their meals on the menu itself. This is especially true if they have low-fat or healthy choice sections on the menu. There has been a high demand for healthier options lately, so more and more restaurants are electing to include these types of entrees.
If nutritional information cannot be found on the menu, ask for it. Restaurants sometimes have this information printed up in a brochure that they can give to you. If not, ask about the specific meals that you are interested in. If the restaurant is interested in keeping your business, they will get you the information you requested. You can also buy nutritional guides that include information on many of the top restaurants.
Restaurant foods, on average, are very unhealthy. Although there is a trend to offering more health conscious foods, this isn’t the case for every restaurant or in every location. Often the food is prepared in high-fat oils or butters. Special sauces and creams are another thing that add fat and calories to your meal. This can be especially deceiving when they are spread or poured over healthy-looking vegetables.
People think salads are a healthy option, but many restaurant salads can be more fattening than other entrees. A large amount of a fattening dressing can be to blame. In this case, ask for a different dressing and have it brought on the side. That way you can control the amount you put on the salad. Look closely at what ingredients are in the salad. Is there a lot of meat, refried beans, eggs or taco shells? If so, you might want to make another choice. Opt for salads that have lots of fruit and vegetables, and not a lot of other things added.
Portion size is another way you can control what you eat at restaurants. A typical meal at a restaurant is twice as big as what you would serve at home. Nutritional consultants recommend having the waiter put half your meal in a doggie bag before they even bring the plate out to you. You can always do this yourself once it is brought to the table, but that can be more tempting. If the food isn’t on your plate, you are less likely to eat it. By limiting the amount and types of foods you eat, you can maintain a healthy diet even while eating out.