A Healthier Approach to Fast Food
Tom Colicchio once said that “This is what people don’t understand: obesity is a symptom of poverty. Fast food has always been known to be unhealthy and cheap but there are some ways that you can eat healthy while eating at these places. Help Guide talks about how, “The average adult eats 836 calories per fast food meal.” We need to figure out ways to avoid high calorie count when eating at fast food restaurants. Each restaurant is required by law to provide the customers with a calorie count for everything on the menu.
There are not many healthy options at a fast food place but people can swap things out of their meal to lower the fat intake. This has changed my view on the matter of fast food because not everyone has the same opportunities as other people, but it’s good to know that there are a small amount of options to stay healthy. While at a fast food restaurant the main thing you should try to avoid are fats, but mainly trans fats. HG states that, “While no amount of artificial trans fat is considered safe, the USDA recommends at least limiting trans fat to no more than 2 grams per day.” A Big Mac from McDonald’s has around two grams of trans fat, which is around the limit of what you should consume in one day. Eating healthy at a fast food restaurant is very hard to do, but there are ways to do it.
Another huge part of eating healthy at a fast food restaurant is to control the amount of sugar that you eat. The best way to watch out for your sugar intake is to, “minimize some of the damage by requesting salad dressing on the side, limiting ketchup, eating subs, burgers or sandwiches open-faced, and skipping dips or sides that are packed with sugar.” Even though it is a lot of work and probably does not taste as good, it is worth it because it is for your health. These facts change my perspective on fast food because everyone has options that are available, but it is up to us how hard we want to try to eat healthier.
Another huge part of fast food chains is the amount of sodium in all the food on their menu. A person should consume around 1500 to 2300 mg of sodium.
The HG gives five guidelines to ordering healthy at a fast food restaurant. The first one is to keep an eye on their portion size. When deciding on what size you want all your food, you should choose the smallest. Another guideline for you to follow is to try and find grilled or roasted meats. Most restaurants provide this kind of meat on their menu and should be the main option when trying to eat healthy. As a person ordering from a fast food restaurant you should not be scared to special order your meal to make it as healthy as possible. You are the consumer so you are in charge and should not be scared to ask for changes. The last guideline for people to follow when trying to eat healthy at a fast food restaurant is to not always assume that the healthy sounding choice is always the best choice. Salad dressing packs on calories and really does not make it healthier than anything else on the menu. I know that people who are financially burdened can’t always afford healthy food but this website opened my eyes and showed me that there are still ways to eat healthy while eating at a fast food restaurant.
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthy-fast-food.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/healthy-fast-food.htm