Life is full of choices. We face choices in every aspect of life including our
nutrient intake. Sandwich or salad? Pasta or pizza? We've all been there. Here are answers to questions that people often ask themselves when they eat out. In most cases, the numbers (they're from the chains' Web sites) hold up for similar restaurants.
LATTE MADE WITH TEA or LATTE MADE WITH EXPRESSO?
Decision:
A coffee (espresso) latte may be better, because some tea lattes are loaded with sugar. A Starbucks grande (16 oz.) Green Tea Latte made with nonfat milk, for example, has 290 calories. That’s more than the Earl Grey (150), Chai (210), or Chocolate Chai (240) Tea Latte. A venti (20 oz.) Green Tea Latte hits 370 calories.
In contrast, a grande Caffè Latte made with nonfat milk has just 130 calories (from the milk). Vanilla or other sweetened lattes have around 200 calories, but the Skinny lattes (made with the questionable sweetener sucralose) have just 120.
Tip: Cut calories even more with a grande nonfat Cappuccino (80), Caffè Misto (70), or coffee and a packet of sugar (20).
SWEET POTATO FRIES or REGULAR FRIES?
Decision:
Skip them both. Sweet potatoes have more vitamin A and fiber, but watch out. At Johnny Rockets, for example, the sweet potato fries have more calories (590) than the regular American fries (480). That's partly because Johnny adds sugar
to the sweets, which also have far more sodium (800 mg) than the regulars (40 mg). At Chili's, both have about 400 calories. But the Homestyle fries have more sodium (1,370 mg) than the sweets (a "mere" 970 mg).
If you have to pick one, make it the sweet potato. But if you're ordinarily a no-fries-for-me diner who's seduced by the "healthy" sweet potatoes, you've been tricked.
Tip: Stick with a non-starchy vegetable (like broccoli or asparagus) or a green salad for your side.
CHICKEN or BEEF WHEN AT A CHINESE FOOD RESTAURANT?
Decision:
It depends. If you order General Tso's, orange, sesame, honey, kung pao, or some other breaded, fried, sauce-laden chicken dish, you'll push away from the table with 1,000 to 1,200 calories...and that's without any rice, according to number from local chains. That's more than beef with broccoli and other unbreaded beef dishes, which have about 700 to 900 calories without rice.
Chicken with black bean sauce, moo goo gai pan, or another unbreaded, nonfried chicken dish, on the other hand, delivers only 600 to 700 calories...and (usually) more veggies. Szechuan and garlic shrimp are in the same ballpark.
Just don't expect less sodium. Most entrées, even the lighter ones, pack 2,000 to 3,000 milligrams (1 to 2 days' worth). Add another 400 mg for every packet (or teaspoon) of soy sauce you use.
And don't assume that vegetarian dishes are a calorie bargain. You're fine with szechuan string beans or Buddha's delight (500 calories), but eggplant in garlic sauce, stir-fried spinach or other greens, or curry vegetables (blame the curry's coconut) hover around 1,000 calories without rice. Even fried tofu with vegetables hits 800 to 1,000 calories. Save (at least) half for tomorrow's lunch.
Tip: Whatever you order, try skipping some of the rice. Brown beats white rice, but both have about 300 calories in a typical 1½-cup serving. At some food courts, you could get 2 cups. That's 400 calories you probably don't need.
SANDWHICH or SALAD?
Decision:
A salad beats a sandwich, though you have to choose your salad wisely.
Take Panera. Most of its sandwiches (not the half sandwich in a You Pick 2) and paninis start out with 300 to 500 calories from the ciabatta, french baguette, focaccia, tomato basil, honey wheat, or three cheese bread. Who needs all that
(mostly) white flour? The Sierra Turkey on Asiago Cheese Focaccia gets 690 of its 820 calories from the focaccia (510) and the chipotle mayonnaise (180).
Only a few breads, like the sourdough, keep the calories down to 200. And expect roughly 700 to 900 milligrams of sodium—at least half a day's worth—from most of the breads alone. With fillings, most sandwiches hit 600 to 900 calories and 1,000 to 2,500 mg of sodium.
In contrast, a full salad starts with greens (maybe even spinach) and raw veggies. With dressing, chicken, cheese, and other usual add-ons, the totals typically hit 400 to 600 calories. And the veggies' potassium may counter some of the damage done by the sodium (700 to 1,500 mg).
Note: at Panera, you can skip ingredients like crispy wonton strips or croutons, which have about 100 calories each. And you can save another 100 by using just half the dressing. Whatever you order, don't forget to add 180 calories if you get a baguette on the side.
Tip: Wraps aren't much different from sandwiches. You're just trading the bread
for a 300-calorie white-flour tortilla.
PIZZA or PASTA
Both pizza crust and pasta supply a load of (usually) white flour. And most pizzas come with cheese. Which does the least damage?
Decision:
This is a tough one. Both are loaded with calories, carbs, sodium, and more. But at least with pasta, you can dodge the saturated fat...if you're careful.
At many chains found locally, each person typically orders an entire pizza, the calories can exceed 1,000 for both pizza and pasta. (At Uno Chicago Grill, single deep-dish pizzas range from 1,600 to 2,300 calories.)
That's true even for pizzas like the Original Hand-Tossed Veggie (1,070 calories) or the Pear + Gorgonzola (1,420). Roughly half the calories come from the crust. CPK's (mostly white flour) honey-wheat with whole grain crust adds 140 extra calories. And most pizzas can deliver 15 to 25 grams of sat fat.
With pasta, you can cut the saturated fat way back (to just 4 or 5 grams)...if it has no cream, cheese, or meat. At most chains, you can go with a red or white clam, marinara, or pomodoro (that is, tomato) sauce.
But watch out. A pasta with cheese or meat is likely to reach at least 10 grams (half a day's worth) of saturated fat. Worse yet, a pasta with cream sauce can hit 40-some grams of sat fat.
Sodium is another minefield. Expect 1,200 to 2,400 milligrams in a typical pasta and (stroke alert!) 2,000 to 3,000 mg (1,000 from the crust alone) in most pizzas.
Tip: A salad beats both pizza and pasta because you fill up on veggies, not white flour. If you want to leave with no more fat cells than you brought, stick to a salad or split your pasta (try the part-whole-grain multigrain penne) or pizza. Or take home half for tomorrow.
RICE or NOODLES?
Decision:
If you're talking about a side dish at a quick-order restaurant like Manchu Wok, go with rice to save on sodium. An order of egg noodles has 1,010 milligrams of sodium. At Manchu Wok, the lo mein noodles have 850 mg and the Shanghai noodles will set you back 1,620 mg.
In contrast, steamed rice has essentially no sodium. Some chains offer brown rice, which has more fiber and vitamins than white. Just steer clear of the fried rice (800 to 1,200 mg of sodium). And watch out for main-dish noodles.
Tip: Ask for a side dish of vegetables instead of rice or noodles. The sodium (about 500 mg) isn't low, but the veggies have fewer calories (about 100) than the rice or noodles (300 to 400). And the vegetables' potassium may counter the load of sodium in the rest of your Asian food.
PAD THAI of PAD PAK?
Pad Thai is very popular. Most people have never heard of Pad Pak. Which is best?
Decision:
Pad Pak—stir-fried vegetables with chicken, shrimp, or tofu and a small side of rice—wins, hands down. That's because Pad Thai— rice noodles, shrimp, bean sprouts, egg, tofu, and crushed peanuts—is such bad news.
At some restaurants, the Chicken Pad Thai has 1,480 calories and 4,300 milligrams of sodium and the calories (even for the Vegetable & Tofu Pad Thai) hover around 1,500, and the sodium rounds to a hard-to-believe 5,000 mg—enough for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Somehow, Pad Thai still has a decent reputation. People who would never order an entrée of fried rice don't flinch at a plate consisting largely of oil-soaked rice noodles.
It is estimated that the Pad Pak at most Thai restaurants has 400 to 500 calories (plus another 300 for every 1½ cups of rice you eat). Sodium is hard to estimate.
Tip: Beware of curry dishes at Thai restaurants. Their coconut can easily supply a day's saturated fat.
*information compiled from sparkpeople.com