Best and Worst Foods To Order At Fast Food Restaurants, According To an Oncologist

Most people today eat out in restaurants at least once a week. Even though the food is tasty, prepared in no time, and uses all sorts of fancy ingredients, this convenient cuisine is often loaded with lots of calories, salt, and saturated fat—all of which create havoc for your health. Also, according to experts, junk food and fast food do not have any essential nutrients like fibre and antioxidants—exposing you to many deadly diseases.

Known to spike your blood sugar levels and blood pressure, fast food diets also cause rapid weight gain, increasing your risk of obesity, heart disease, inflammation (which causes cancer), and mental health issues like depression and anxiety. However, if you still decide to eat out, you can decipher what is good for you and order your favourite dish accordingly.

Dr. Urvi Shah, a hematologist-oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center says dinners should lean toward plant-based options and simple, unprocessed ingredients. And so, she recommends at least 10 grams of dietary fibre—which is less than two teaspoons of added sugar, under 500 calories, and no more than 700 milligrams of sodium in each meal.

Shah, a physician-scientist researching dietary interventions, opines that you can pair fast food orders with water because it helps flush out excess sodium and ease digestion. “If we’re ordering a meal, often in fast food restaurants, we will order the [caloric] drink and we’ll order the fries,” Shah told The New York Post, but customers should be “thinking of healthier options for the sides and maybe avoiding sugary drinks.”

If you love to eat at McDonald’s, Subway, or Taco Bell, you can choose a few items that are not too dangerous. You can go for salads, which feature mixed greens topped with grilled spicy chicken breast, tomatoes, cheese, roasted corn, black beans, and red bell peppers.

You can also try burrito bowls with brown rice and salsa, as brown rice is more nutritious—loaded with fibre, minerals, and vitamins.

For burger and sandwich lovers, the ones with less than 400 calories are McChicken or Fillet-o-Fish burgers. Also, veggie delight or veggie patty on hearty multigrain bread or in a wrap with a side salad or baked chips is a good option. These sandwiches are made with lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, olives, and pickles.

However, completely avoid fried chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, all kinds of chips, lemonade fountain drinks, and milkshakes. Avoid Whopper burgers, which are packed with over 700 calories and lots of sodium. Do not even think of ordering anything with pepperoni, salami, turkey, ham, or cheese.

As fast food is super palatable—your body breaks it down quickly in the mouth, and it does not need much chewing. And so, it activates the reward centres in the brain rapidly. This combination trains the palate to prefer these highly processed, highly stimulating foods and reduces someone’s desire for whole, fresh foods.

Studies link fast food consumption and the incidence of food addiction and binge eating of these low-nutrient items.

In the long run, eating out frequently can aggravate digestive conditions like constipation and diverticular disease, as well as reductions in healthy gut bacteria due to most ingredients being super low in fibre. A Western diet could also lead to higher inflammation, lower control of infection, higher cancer rates, and a higher risk of allergic and autoinflammatory disease.

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Health and around the world.