Restaurant Salads: Good Choice or Bad Move?
06/07
So, I'm sure we've all scheduled lunches when we're not really hungry, just to take a break, talk to a friend, and recharge for the rest of the day. Well, during finals this semester, my innocent excuse for a break reached monstrous heights.
Rationalizing I had to eat at some time, I booked friends for two, sometimes three, meals a day - anything to get out of the library. And let's not pretend I was restaurant-hopping and then hitting the gym. So, naturally, looking up nutrition facts online proved to be another worthy distraction.
My findings were shocking! Yes, popular magazines are fond of reminding us hamburgers are healthier choices than grilled chicken sandwiches at fast-food places, but I'm talking about safe bets, like salads with fat-free dressing. The ability of restaurants to inject calories into vegetables is astonishing. I also discovered several websites whose clever owners listed a salad's total calories without including most of the ingredients that come in the salad as listed on the menu.
So, the next time you're pondering your order, remember not to assume it's healthy just because it's listed right under appetizers on the menu. And maybe try a sandwich.
- Courtesy of Elizabeth