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What is the Healthiest Fast Food to Eat?

It’s common to associate “fast food” with “junk food”, but in truth this need not always be the case. One can make healthy choices with fast food also. Today, there are so many food outlets that focus chiefly on providing fast food to their customers, ranging from the famous chains like KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Pizza hut and the like, to smaller restaurants that deliver burgers, fries, pastas, grills etc – one is really spoilt for choices, but what’s important is to make healthy choices. In this article we will look at what is the healthiest fast food to eat, and give some other healthy fast food options.

The Healthy Fast Food Choices

Considering all the various foods available at food foods counter, the healthiest of them all would be whole grain sandwiches with fresh lean meat or veggies, light on dressing, light on sauces and light on condiments. One can get these sandwiches made to order at Subway or any other fast food restaurant that has whole grain sandwich on its menu. Whole grain sandwiches, with non-processed meats or just fresh veggies, would rate as the healthiest fast food to eat because it contains dietary fiber, it’s low on calories, it’s a good source of essential minerals (from the grains, veggies and meat), vitamins, protein and carbohydrate.

Fast food outlets serve foods like mashed potatoes, cole slaw, baked beans and salads. These foods are definitely healthy as they contain vegetables and are low on saturated/trans fats. Eating a chicken salad with mashed potatoes on the side is a healthy option compared to eating French fries with “extra crispy” fried chicken.

Eating burgers can be healthy if you stick to the vegetarian ones. Non-vegetarian burgers usually use “processed” meats in the form of patties. Processed beef, ham or chicken usually contains significant amounts of sodium (as salt) and preservatives. Processed food is not a healthy option and it’s best to stick with fresh foods as much as possible. Be sure to check up on whether meats used in your burger are fresh cuts or are they processed meats high in preservatives and sodium.

Is Pizza a Healthy Fast Food to Eat?

Pizzas are almost a staple diet in places like Italy, but the kind of pizza you get in most fast food joints is not nearly as healthy. Fast food joints end up using processed cheese, processed meats for toppings and refined flour breads for the base. None of these ingredients are really good for you.

If you can avail a whole grain based pizza, which has fresh meat for toppings, and cottage cheese on the crust, then it’s definitely a healthy fast food choice. The quality of cheese and the bread is what distinguishes a healthy pizza from an unhealthy pizza. There are Italian restaurants where you can avail such healthy “home made” style pizzas which are scrumptious to eat and nutritious to boot.

In Conclusion

Making healthy fast food choices is about being picky about the ingredients that go into making your food. Fried foods are dense in calories and saturated fats, which make them less healthy option to grilled, boiled or stir fried foods. The healthiest fast food is the one made from whole grains, fresh veggies and fresh lean cuts meat, low on saturated fats and condiments – the golden rule is to keep processed foods to the minimum and eat as fresh as possible.