What is healthy to eat at a restaurant?
Due to the popularity of convenience and fast foods, finding healthy items at restaurants is becoming increasingly difficult. However, this does not mean that you can’t find healthy options at restaurants. And no, it does not have to be a salad. One way to check whether a restaurant has healthy, favorable options is to look at its reviews on an online review platform. Online reviews can give you information about various businesses on many topics. For example, you can look up a health lab review if you are interested in doing online laboratory tests or a retail outlet review if you would like to try a new e-commerce website. In addition to reviews, online review platforms offer a write-up of the business, such as healthy restaurants, for extra information.
Firstly, why are restaurants becoming unhealthier?
To be a sustainable business practice, restaurants rely on repeat customers and use their main product – their food – to lure people back in. Restaurants want people to crave their food to get them to come back as often as possible. Thus, their food needs to be much better than a home-cooked meal and competitor restaurants’ meals. The simplest and most cost-effective way to make their food taste better is to rely on unhealthy ingredients such as trans fats, sugar, and salt. When this is combined with the fact that the restaurant scene is more of a social event, people worry less about overeating.
So what are the healthy options?
Even though many restaurants offer unhealthy options, you can still find healthy options on their menus. Not all fats are bad for you – monounsaturated fats, from olive oil, avocados, and nuts, and polyunsaturated fats, nuts, fatty fish, and vegetable oils, help lower your cholesterol. Fish is a healthy choice when dining out, as seafood such as tuna and salmon contain omega-3 fatty acids that can reduce your risk of heart disease. You should avoid foods that are fried or come with extra cheese as these dishes contain too much-saturated fat and sodium and are high in calories. Furthermore, pickled, smoked, or cooked with MSG foods can be unhealthy. Instead, you should look at baked, grilled, roasted, or poached foods with a healthy serving of fresh vegetables.
What about vegan food? That’s healthy, right?
Surprisingly, plant-based foods can be unhealthier than meat-based foods. People with plant-based diets should avoid imitation processed meats like vegan chicken nuggets due to their high sodium. Vegan desserts like chocolate mousse and cheesecake substitute eggs and butter for starches, pectins, and gums to achieve a similar consistency.
Furthermore, ask your waiter or waitress what brand of tofu or quinoa they use to ensure they use recognizable brands that are low in sodium. Moreover, vegans aren’t the only ones who should be asking about the food they are being served. No matter your dietary choices, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask what is in your food or how it is prepared. You can even ask them to substitute unhealthy ingredients.