CHOLESTEROL DIET SECRETS

According to statistics, more Americans are suffering from high cholesterol and putting on more weight today compared to the past. The reasons for this phenomenon are sedentary lifestyle and diets.

Long gone are the days where we could sit down peacefully for a couple of good hours to enjoy healthy home-cooked food. Many families today are dual-income compared to the 1970’s and the number of such dual-income families is ever rising. With both parents at work, it is of no surprise that children are eating out more often than ever.

Children aside, even the parents themselves at work are seemingly always rushing for deadlines, sometimes to the tune of skipping meals or rushing for a quick meal at the fast-food restaurant. Thus, fast food has become a bustling business and a part of our lifestyle.

The famous “Super Size Me” video has shown how a person who eats fast food regularly could jeopardize one’s health. This video presents the extreme, even though there is an undeniable fact that most fast foods tend to be high in cholesterol and fats.

We probably would not be able to avoid fast food totally. Nevertheless, you have a choice. You are what you eat, and what you eat is dependent on what you order, which is a matter of choice. So here are some tips on how you could still make healthy food choices when ordering fast food:

1. Make sure the fast food outlet does not use trans fats (usually you can verify this with the restaurant manager);
2. Avoid ordering deep fried food such as fried chicken, fried nuggets, French fries, fried potato wedges;
3. Choose grilled or broiled burgers instead of burgers with deep-fried patty;
4. Ask for more vegetables in your burgers;
5. Order a salad where possible, but go easy on the mayo dressing;
6. Instead of sweet soft drinks, ask for juice, water, milk or tea;
7. Avoid sweet desserts (ice creams, cakes etc);
8. Use less sugar in coffee and tea; and
9. Ask for less salt in your food.

Finally, McDonald’s is probably the most frequented fast food restaurant in America and in most countries. As such, it would be helpful if you would visit their website and find out the nutritional values of the items which your regularly order.

To your health,