Restaurant Meals Might Be Less Healthy Than You Thought They Were

You’ve always been told that the best food in the world is home-made. That is probably true, because when you cook with your ingredients of choice and in your own way, you can have a better control over the amount of sodium, calories, fat and sugar you consume.

Researchers have recently proved that you have higher chances to take in more calories if you eat at a restaurant. Moreover, their findings were not limited to fast food restaurants, which are known to have very unhealthy products in their menus, but they included better-rated places as well, such as full-service restaurants.

The authors of the study looked at the  data provided by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This survey collects nutritional information on a daily basis from a considerable number of people living in the United States.

More than 30 percent of the 18,000 adults surveyed said that they had had at least a fast food meal within the previous two days and 25 percent of them said they had a meal in a restaurant at least once in the same period of time.

Those who ate  their meal at a restaurant, tended to consume 187 more calories than those who ate at home. As well as that, they took in 10 more grams of fat and as much as 400 milligrams more sodium, according to the research led by Rupoeng An, who is a professor of kinesiology and community health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The differences between fast-food restaurants and more notable establishments were not incredibly big. It was reported that the people who ate a fast food meal would consume 190 more calories, 11 grams more fat and 300 milligrams more sodium than those who preferred to eat at home.

“So people who consume food at full-service restaurants are not aware of the calorie and nutrient content in the food served and are more likely to overeat and are less cautious about the extra calories they intake from the full-service restaurant,” said Rupoeng An.

He also added that, even if the FDA has asked restaurants to give nutritional information regarding the products they serve on the menu, most of them fail to do so, leaving their customers in the dark as far as the number of calories they consume. With obesity rates going up, this is quite a worrying aspect.

More so, it was noted that the people who are accustomed to eating at full-service restaurants, are more inclined to be obese, even compared to those who prefer fast food.

The most important conclusion to draw, though, is that home-prepared food is, in addition to being cheap,  the healthiest and most nutritious option.
Image Source: time