Restaurant guidelines for healthier eating

Restaurant Guidelines for Healthier Eating

What do you do when you’re committed to healthy eating, but you still want to be social and go out to eat with friends and family?  Don’t stress.  There are options just about anywhere you go.  Some types of restaurants are better than others, and you may be surprised at how many places now serve grass-fed beef or bison, lamb, wild-caught fish, and local or organic vegetables.  Any of these would be your best options.  When these aren’t available on a menu, you can still minimize the effects of eating out by making smart choices. 

Of course it’s always best to eat at home because it’s the only way to know for sure that you’re getting the freshest, organic food and healthy oils.  Restaurant food is typically cooked in vegetable or seed oils high in unstable, inflammatory polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs).  The “healthier” restaurants aren’t any better as far as this goes, thanks to the “heart healthy” propaganda that pushes these toxic oils and demonizes traditional fats like butter and tallow.  However, being a hermit isn’t the answer.  I’ve been there done that, and trust me, being anti-social will not lead to better health.  When you do eat out, just do the best you can with the choices in front of you.

Here are some ideas on how to order in different types of restaurants:

American/Continental/Steakhouse- Your best option would be grass-fed meat, buffalo/bison, lamb or wild-caught fish if they have it on the menu.  If none of these are available, you can get the meat or fish that most appeals to you with salad, veggies or a veggie based soup.  It’s best to avoid potatoes in restaurants because most are genetically modified and are actually classified as pesticides because they’ve had pesticides inserted into their DNA.  If they have organic potatoes, those are fine.  Something to consider when ordering vegetables in a restaurant - many times the menu will say the veggies are served in a butter sauce, but the sauce doesn’t actually contain butter.  It will typically be a mix of vegetable or seed oils.  Always ask and if the server doesn’t know what it is, stay on the safe side and ask for no sauce and just a packet of butter.  Or dress your veggies with lemon or vinegar. 

Italian- Stay away from the breadbasket!  Unless you’ve found the rare gem that makes their own bread using organic flour from Italy, you’ll be served glyphosate-laden bread.  You can ask the server not to bring bread to the table so you aren’t tempted.  If you find wild caught fish, pastured chicken or grass-fed beef on the menu, you can order one of these.  If not, order the fish or steak that sounds most appealing to you with vegetables and a salad.  It’s always better to order salad without the dressing and ask for oil and vinegar if they have it.  At finer restaurants, you might actually get real olive oil.  At most places, though, you’ll probably be brought something they say is olive oil but is actually a blend of olive, soy, or canola.  If the oil doesn’t smell good, (it should have a pungent olive smell), you can ask for a lemon and hot sauce and use to your heart’s content.  If they have avocado, you can use that in place of oil.  You may be able to order a gluten-free pasta dish, but be aware that sauces are often made with toxic oils.  Gluten-free pasta with vegetables and real butter might be a decent option.

Thai, Chinese, Japanese or Indian- It’s rare that you find organic animal protein on a menu in an ethnic restaurant, so your best option would be to go with a dish with whatever animal protein that sounds most appealing and lots of vegetables.  You may find lamb on the menu, which is a good choice since it’s not a feedlot animal.  Try to minimize the amount of rice you eat, as it’s a heavily sprayed crop and typically contains arsenic.

French- While French cuisine is known for being rich and creamy, you can ask for a meat or fish entree without the sauce.  You can add a salad with lemon, oil and vinegar and veggies.  In nicer restaurants, they may actually cook in butter.  If they do, you can go for the sauce, but ask for it on the side if you’re worried about it being too heavy.  You may also find a veggie or broth based soup on the menu.  Keep the bread away from the table if you can.

Mexican- You aren’t likely to find organic meat and chicken on the menu, but you can order fajitas without the tortillas.  If I have to choose between feedlot beef or factory chicken, I’ll usually get beef because it’s lower in the inflammatory Pufas than chicken.  Maybe they have lettuce you can use to make your own lettuce wraps with the meat and veggies.  Skip the cheese and enjoy some avocado or sour cream with your meal.

Seafood- Ask if they serve wild caught fish.  If they don’t, you can order a piece of grilled, blackened or broiled fish without the sauce.  You can squeeze a lemon on it instead.  Go for lower fat fish like flounder or trout instead of fattier fish like salmon.  The salmon you’ll get in a restaurant will typically be fed a diet of corn, soy and food dyes.  You can sometimes find a grass-fed burger on the menu, which would be a good choice without the bun.  Grilled or steamed vegetables and/or a green salad are the best choices for sides.

Sports Bar- You may think a sports bar will be tricky but you might be surprised to find a grass-fed burger on the menu.  You can order it without the bun.  Otherwise, stick with salad and veggies with a piece of fish or meat. 

Breakfast- If the restaurant serves pasture-raised eggs, this would be your best bet.  Eggs and fruit would be a good combination.  Turkey bacon would be a good addition for more protein.  Stay away from the potatoes, pastries and grits.  

Whether you’re trying to lose fat or you’re on a healing journey, staying away from industrial seed and vegetable oils, soy, corn, potatoes and gluten (bread and pasta) is a smart idea when eating out.  With that said, life is meant to be enjoyed.  If eating out is an occasional treat, it should be just that.  Strict rules can take the fun out of it.  If you eat out frequently though, it pays to follow some guidelines so you’re not regularly eating things that will work against your health goals.  The healthier you are, the more leeway you have when eating out, so the goal should be to get to a place where you feel happy and healthy most of the time so you can go out and eat whatever it is you want with minimal repercussions.  

I don’t eat out often, but when I do I take vitamin E with my food to help minimize the harmful, metabolism slowing effects of the oils used.  You can never know for sure what you’re getting even if you think you’re choosing better options.  The type of vitamin E I use and recommend has been shown to neutralize the oxidization of Pufas and it’s one of the few that doesn’t contain soy.  You can order it through Fullscript at 10% off.  Use the link below or on the resources page. (If you search Fullscript, it’s listed under Fundamentals).