Fast-Food is becoming more and more acceptable and convenient in our society. With our daily busy schedules, many just don't have time to prepare the food at home or go out to eat at a restaurant. Fast-food restaurants also offer low price, variety and predictability. However, they tend to be very high in fat, salt, sugar and, therefore, in calories. The guidelines below can help you limit fat, salt, sugar and especially calories at fast-food places:

• Keep it simple. Try ordering foods without mayonnaise, sauces or dressings or remove them yourself. Topping a baked potato with butter, sour cream or cheese adds fat and can double the amount of calories.
• Think small. Concentrate on variety rather than quantity. A "whopper" or "jumbo" item may wipe out much of a day's fat and calorie allotment. By ordering smaller portions, you save hundreds of calories over their larger counterparts.
• Salads. Salad bars are becoming more and more popular in the fast-food restaurants. Surprisingly, salad bars can be a high-fat disaster! Here are a few tips on how to avoid it:
  1. Use a smaller plate, if available
  2. Load on lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, and other healthy offerings.
  3. Be careful about your dressing choice. Use a low-calorie dressing, if available. These dressings are not fat-free and contain about 20-30 calories per table spoon. Fat-free dressings contain 10-20 calories per table spoon.
  4. If you decide to use regular dressing, go for the oil and venegar-based dressings such as Italian or vinaigrette.
  Here is an example of a healthy salad bar combination.
• Look for meals that meet these guidelines:

  	Women	Men
  Calories	500-600	800-900
  Fat, grams per meal	20-25	30-35
  Sodium*, milligrams per meal	<1000	<1000
  *Large amounts of sodium may contribute to high blood pressure. The average American eats 10-60 times more sodium than needed per day. The recommended daily allowance of sodium is 2400 mg, or 6 g of salt.

  If you do exceed the above amounts, try cutting down on those three categories throughout the rest of the day.

• Share. Fries, a large sandwich, baked potato or a desert will taste even better if you share it with a friend. Try to engage in a conversation. And remember, it takes approximately 20 minutes for your brain to get the message from your stomach that it is fed. So, the slower you eat, the better off your waist line will be.
• Get the facts. Always make sure you know what you are putting in your stomach. Fast-food places respond to consumer preferences. Find out what oils have been used in the preparation and how many calories and fats your shakes and desserts have. Many places offer nutritional information for their products. In fact, the law requires fast-food places to disclose nutritional information to the public. Don't hesitate to find it out -- you will be surprised by what you'll learn.
• Make fast-food visits a treat. Consider going to fast-foods once a week or less. Vary your choices with restaurants, fine dining and home-cooked goodies.
• Try and stick to our suggested fast-food choices.

  References:

  • Warshaw, Hope S. The Healthy Eater's Guide to Family and Chain Restaurants. Chronimed Publishing, Minneapolis, MN. 1994.