Eating Out? What To Watch Out For At The Restaurant

Picking out things from the restaurant menu is more likely to be an exercise governed by your sense of taste than the thought of good health.

You are likely salivating at the thought of food that is about to be offered to you rather than thinking about the impact it could have on your health.

Have you ever wondered why it is that restaurant food tastes so great? Well there are several strategies they have perfected over time that causes the food to taste great but which are not so good for your and our health. So one needs to beware of what you order at restaurants and watch out for the following:

The Calorie count may not be accurate: If the menu displays calorie counts next to the dish to be ordered this may sometimes be misleading or downright inaccurate.

A study conducted by the Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy found that in the actual number of calories of a dish far exceeded the printed count in a majority of cases.

Trans fats: These are two words that are known villains of our time, but which continue to be used with impunity by manufacturers and some restaurants as well.

Trans fats are cheap, they increase the shelf life of food, which is why they are used so widely but are terrible for you. So the next time you order a side dish of fries or order that deliciously greasy fried chicken think of what it does to your arteries.

MSG: Mono Sodium Glutamate or Ajinomoto is said to impart Umami (which is supposed to be the fifth taste after sweet, salt, sour and bitter), the savory taste to food.

The restaurants have known for a long time that MSG is delicious and will have customers come into their restaurant again and again to sample their delicacies.

Excessive use of MSG has been known to cause health problems and so should be watched out for. It goes by several different names.

The Salad and the side dish: These items are often loaded with more calories than the main dish. For instance you order grilled fish rather than batter fried; excellent choice one would say.

However, along with that you order a side of fries which then negates the healthful benefits of the dish itself. You decide to have ‘just a salad’. However, the so called salad is loaded with rich mayo or similar and there goes your decision to eat healthy!

Additives, food color, preservatives and artificial substances: To enhance the taste, the appearance or the shelf life of food, restaurants have a number of little tips and tricks that they use. Watch out for these because they are either bad for health or could cause allergic reactions.