Eating Heart-Healthy In Restaurants

Peter Moore of Men's Health Magazine Tells How, On The Early Show

(CBS)  Eating out doesn't have to mean consuming foods that contribute to heart disease.

In Part Two of The Early Show series "HeartScore" on Tuesday, Men's Health magazine Editor Peter Moore discussed healthy options in three different types of cuisines, Italian, Mexican, and Chinese, and talked about menu "warning" words that can hint at unhealthy choices, and menu "friends" that could point to the opposite.

Menu Warning Signs: Clues that might translate into un-healthy choices

Smothered That usually means a blanket of cheese!

Stuffed

Buttery or creamy. You think luscious, but you should be thinking fattening!

Crispy, crunchy means FRIED.

Served in an edible bowl! Never a good idea to eat the plate.

Secret sauce: It's usually 80 percent mayonnaise and 20 percent ketchup, usually with a smattering of chopped pickles thrown in. You can replace it with decidedly less-secretive barbecue sauce and save 100 calories.

Caesar: It's not worth hailing; a fat and fat combo, sticking to all surfaces of rippled lettuce. That's the birth of the 1,000 calorie salad.

Thick crust: It can double the calories over thin.

Menu Friends: Tips that might mean a healthy choice

Blackened: Flavor comes from spices, not fat.

Grilled. It's usually the leanest form of cookery; high heat, high taste, low fat.

Manhattan Style is tomato and broth, rather than butter and cream.

Poached: Steaming is another high flavor, low cal cooking technique.

Grass-fed means the steer is eating well, so you'll receive a big dose of heart healthy Omega-3's.

CUISINE-SPECIFIC TIPS

Italian

Great starters abound at Italian restaurants

Ask your server to hold any cheese or creamy spread, you won't miss it.

Bruschetta is a great choice, since it's loaded with chopped tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil. The crunchy hunks of grilled bread are a great choice at less than 200 calories per serving.

Pizzaiola is a great choice for an entrée. It's like chicken Parmesan, minus the excess calories. It typically comes grilled or sautéed with a marinara sauce that has peppers and mushrooms. It saves a few hundred calories from the “Parm” version and packs in an extra serving of vegetables.

Italian menu items to avoid:

Parmesan: The fastest way to ruin a lean protein or defenseless vegetable? Bread it, fry it, and smother it. An eggplant alone only has 60 calories, but by the time it's done getting parm-ed. it has 1,000 calories and 68 grams of fat.

Alfredo: Butter, cream, and cheese on the pasta amount to 860 calories and 45 grams per two-cup serving.

White pizza: This kind of pizza lacks marinara sauce, which is low-cal and is packed with vitamins. White pizza may pack more cheese, racking up the calories higher.

Pizza toppings to avoid: pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, and extra cheese.

[skinnyminny2]

Stick to garden salad (go easy on dressing) and minestrone soup in Italian places.

I never eat anything except salad or vegetarian soup when dragged out to eat. The rest of the stuff just isn''t worth it. Most of the time they take something good for you (salmon, tilapia) and ruin it with oil or cream sauce.

Most meals in restaurants are well over 800 calories each, some over 1,000! It just isn''t safe out there. When calories and fat are that high, there''s nothing to ''enjoy'' at all. I''d rather stay thin, thank you.

[omnibus66]

If you want to eat healthy, eat at home and cook from scratch. There is no way of knowing what is or isn''t in restaurant food.

On the other hand, it probably won''t kill you to eat out now and then. But don''t try to fool yourself into thinking that you can pick healthy foods off the menu by looking for key words. Just enjoy the experience.