Butter	Cheese	Trans Fats
Cream Sauces	Salt	Deep Frying
Fatty Meats	Sugar	Large Portions

in the news:  Restaurants and your health

5 Restaurants in Manhattan Get Citations Over Calories New York Times - May 5, 2008 By JAMES BARRON City health inspectors began issuing violation notices on Monday to restaurants that did not have calorie counts posted beside the prices on their menu boards

The Most Fattening Cocktails - Forbes.com And don't think that drinking fewer cocktails with a bigger kick will solve that problem: The higher the proof, the greater the calories. ...

Sugary treats: Addicted to junk - Times Online (UK)

Sugary treats beat stress but are as addictive as drugs
 By Erik Baard

RESTAURANT FOOD: Ingredients and preparation pitfalls
When most Restaurants create their menu items and develop their recipes and food preparation, they are thinking mainly of profit. After all, they are in business to make money. Your long term health is not their concern. Their main concerns: 1 The taste of the food 2. The cost to produce that food.

1. TASTE: the food must taste good to their average customer. The easiest way for many of them to achieve this is by using high sugar, high salt, high fat, and high carbohydrate ingredients which are addictive to many people. Studies have shown that millions of years of human evolution cause this addiction....read article

2. COST: the addictive ingredients used to create this food are also some of the cheapest. This is not a coincidence. Also, many of the ingredients have an unnaturally long shelf life, so spoilage of ingredients do not hurt the restaurant's profit. Frozen items which are quickly deep fried are among the easiest to prepare and perhaps the most profitable for the restaurant.

Butter
We all can agree, restaurants want us to love their food. Well, what can taste bad with a little butter on it? Butter is a saturated fat with about 100 calories per tablespoon. Though a little goes a long way, many restaurants think more is always better. Watch out for those wine & cream sauces as they usually contain butter. Also, be sure to ask how side dishes are prepared. For example if vegetables have bread crumbs on them, there’s a good chance it’s tossed in quite a bit of butter. By then, those vegetables we ordered to be healthy ended up being the richest thing on the plate.

Cream sauces
Loaded with heavy cream and butter, cream sauces are the basis for many dishes including soups, dressings, sauces, and of course the beloved “mashed potatoes.” Heavy cream is a saturated fat with over 400 calories in one half of a cup. Always stick to broth based soups and sauces prepared with light olive oil, tomato, or vinegar instead of cream sauces & bisques. Stay away from words like au gratin, bearnaise, hollandaise, and creamy. Skip sour cream on your baked potato and choose something nutritious and tasty like salsa instead. Choose a small amount of guacamole instead of sour cream on your fajitas. A few small changes go a long way when substituting for cream sauces.

Fatty Meats
Cholesterol packed and fatty red meats should only be enjoyed in moderation. When eating out, here are a few things to always remember... A standard portion size of meat should be no more than 4 oz (the size of a deck of cards). The cut of meat is also important as some are fattier than others. For example, pork tenderloin is lower in fat than pork chops, flank steak is much leaner than a sirloin, and the dark meat of a chicken or turkey has significantly more fat and calories than the white meat. Sausage and bacon should be enjoyed rarely as they contain quite a bit of fat and calories. Preparation of meats can also make or break your healthy eating plan. Stay away from fried, sauteed, breaded, coated, and battered, and choose broiled, poached, steamed, or grilled instead. Another great option would be to choose a fresh piece of fish for a better kind of fat with more nutrients.

Cheese
They say it makes everything taste better, but did you know the calorie difference between a hamburger and a cheeseburger can send you back on the treadmill for another 30 minutes?  Most cheese is approximately 100 calories for one ounce and most restaurant sandwiches and cheeseburgers have at least 2 ounces.  Cheese is high in saturated fat and sodium and should be eaten sparingly.  Processed cheeses, such as American cheese are actually not "real cheese" at all but made with real cheeses such as cheddar or colby.  The cheese is pasteurized and blended together with artificial colors, preservatives, and of course sodium.  Imitation cheeses are even less expensive than  American cheese and are usually made with oils and other "tasty fillers."   These cheeses are extremely popular among delis and restaurants because they're cheap and their ingredients are  formulated to increase shelf life.  Processed cheese is also used quite a bit in cheese sauces because it melts so smoothly.  It's always a good idea to ask what kind of cheese is used when dining out.  This will help not only your waistline but your overall health as well.  When enjoying cheese, choose small amounts of real cheese like a nice sharp Parmesan, Feta, Goat cheese, Cheddar, Swiss, Blue cheese, Gouda, Gruyere, Fontina, or Brie.  The taste of these cheeses will go a much longer way so you can be satisfied with a small amount. 

Sugar
Did you know that according to the U.C. Berkely wellness letter, the average American consumes over 133 pounds of sugar in one year ? There are hidden sugars in almost everything we eat. In restaurants - salad dressings, sauces, sodas and alcoholic drinks can contain so much sugar and add hundreds of extra calories to the already high-calorie entrees. Read about the dangers of excess sugars in our sugar article.

Trans Fat
 Including margarine, cooking oils and "stabilizers" in pre-packaged foods often used by restaurants. These are among the most dangerous and detrimental to our health.   Remember in the 1980's when margarine flooded the markets as a "healthy substitute" for butter?  Now, the ongoing question is which is actually better for you.  Let's clear this up once and for all.  Margarine is made up of partially hydrogenated oils or "trans fats" which the body doesn't recognize as something it can use so it remains in the system... read trans fat article

Deep Frying
One extra crispy breast of chicken at KFC will cost you almost 450 calories and 27 grams of fat!  Fried chicken, French fries, and other deep friend appetizers are filled with saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium yet they contribute almost no nutritional value. Just grab a napkin, place it across your mozzarella sticks, and look at how much oil is on your napkin!   Unfortunately these foods  are the most appealing to kids and teenagers contributing further to childhood obesity.   According to researchers at Harvard medical school, when children and adolescents  increased the amount of fried foods they consumed outside the home, their BMI (body mass index) increased.  The numbers get even worse when you factor in the nutritious fruits and vegetables that American kids aren't consuming.  The good news is there are now so many other options to choose from when dining out.  Lean meats that have been lightly  grilled or stir fried, fish, vegetables, even pasta is a healthier option. 

Large Portions
How is it that European countries like Italy and France can eat rich foods like cheeses and pasta, yet they don't struggle with half of the obesity epidemic that we do in the US?  Well, when you consider that portion sizes in Europe are considerably smaller than ours, it makes sense.  This "size difference" is true for everything from a simple portion of steak in a restaurant all the way down to the candy bars in grocery stores.  It is also common knowledge that fast food chains... read large portions article