How to Dine Out and Stay Healthy

What these researchers found out about fast food was quite impressive from a (bad) point of view of health: each of them had an average of 1,750 milligrams (milligrams) of sodium at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. ۔

To keep these results in mind, consider the new US government’s dietary guidelines recommending that a person not consume more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium throughout the day. Would you be surprised if I also told you that half of these 6,500 single meals (57% of them) contain more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day?

Too much salt

And how much sodium does the human body need in a day? Only 500 mg. And yet, experts estimate that the average American swallows 6,900 milligrams and 9,000 milligrams of sodium a day.Since 1 teaspoon of salt contains approximately 2,000 milligrams of sodium, this means that the average American is losing up to 4 1/2 teaspoons of salt per day! If a high-sodium diet can make you feel bloated, how would these people feel?

A dangerous substance

Too much salt in the body can be especially dangerous for sodium-sensitive people, such as people with a family history of high blood pressure, people with diabetes, African Americans, and the elderly – e.g. As such, it can raise anyone. Chances of getting heart disease, a major killer. Add to that the fact that almost half of people with high blood pressure are not even aware that they have high blood pressure – and Houston, we have a problem here.

Low sodium consumption in restaurants

Now that you know that restaurant food is especially full of sodium piles, maybe it’s time for us all to reduce the amount of sodium we eat when the American Heart Association (AHA) Review the following suggestions

• Find out which foods are low in sodium, and find them on the menu.
• Ask to prepare your dish without salt.
• When you order, be specific about how you want to prepare your food.
• Don’t add salt to your diet. Reach for pepper shaker instead of salt shaker .
• Ask for fresh lemons and squeeze the juice on your dish instead of using salt. (For example, lemon juice goes well with fish and vegetables.

And eat less fat.As always, we need to keep an eye on calories and fat as we eat. What should be your daily goal for calories and fat? The AHA now recommends that most adults limit their sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day, in addition to consuming about 2,000 calories per day and more than 20 grams of saturated fat (a type of arterial blockage). Don’t do

Healthy options are possible – even at McDonald’s

So how should you approach unhealthy foods through today’s many food and beverage establishments? For example, if you find yourself at McDonald’s, what can you do to stay healthy? Medical and health news publisher WebMD recommends avoiding fat offerings and sticking with Egg McMuffin, who as a whole 300 calories

12 grams of fat (5 grams of it saturated fat)2 grams of fiber

Protein that can help you feel satisfied for hours.But … please know that McMuffin fits into the sodium department, which contains 820 milligrams of content, or just over the daily limit of 1,500 milligrams…. and even Burger King (kind of)At Burger King, you can choose Croissan’

wich, which offers eggs and cheese.* 320 calories

• 16 grams of fat (7 grams of it saturated)

* 11 grams of protein to keep your appetite away

Like muffins, however, the amount of sodium in croissants is still very high: 690 mg.If you are ordering lunch at Burger King, the Chicken Baguette Sandwich will give you 350 calories and 5 grams of fat.

A great source of nutritional information from restaurants

Healthy Diningfinder is a website that has worked with restaurants and registered nutritionists to help find diners in the United States – and to serve restaurants – food that goes through a list of healthy food standards. Is or goes beyond that. The website shows diners a selection of restaurants in their area that offer tasty, food-approved, menu choices, while encouraging the restaurant itself to make healthy choices.

The site also provides tips on how to reduce calorie, fat and sodium content and consumption. To meet HealthyDiningfinder’s “Sodium Savvy” standard, for example, an entry may not contain more than 750 mg of sodium, while appetizers, side dishes, and desserts must not exceed 250 mg.

Playing with HealthyDiningfinder

How I enjoyed playing with this site:

1-Go to the search method at HealthyDiningfinder.com and you will find the search parameters listed in the column at the bottom left of the page.

2-Type in your city, state, and zip code. (It is not necessary to enter your correct street address.)

3-Limit your search to within 5, 10, 15, 20 or 50 miles of your home, depending on how far you drive to eat.

4-Don’t bother selecting the “price range” – you can also see all the restaurant options there.

5- I clicked only 1 “food” selection at a time – “American / Family” “Asian / Chinese” “Italian” Fast / Quick “؛” Mexican “؛” Seafood “؛” Other “؛ etc.). By selecting only one category each time, I can keep my search results simple.After each of your “food” choices,

6- click the “Apply” button, note the results, and then go back to the search page and uncheck your last choice. Choose another type of cooking that interests you and click “Apply” again. Repeat as long as you want.

7-I didn’t bother to choose any of the 3 features – “Sodium CV,” “Kids Live Well,” and “Coupons” – because whenever a restaurant appears in the search results, the features themselves Are automatically listed under its name. And logo

A couple of surprises

Healthy Diningfinder’s search form worked great for me, although it presented me with a few surprises. A Hooters restaurant in Baltimore, for example, proudly lists 7 “healthy eating options” – who knew? And when I searched for “seafood”, not a single restaurant came up, even when I extended the search to 50 miles. I have to admit that the “seafood” category didn’t work, because I live in Baltimore, a city that sits right on Chesapeake Bay and is world famous for its pissin delights. Oh – it reminds me of 1 more step:8. At some point in your search, be sure to click on the last category “Other”. When I finally arrived to find it, many seafood sites opened up – although none was great in Baltimore.The point is, with a little planning and Healthy Dining finder, you can find really healthy food when you eat out.