As I am sure many people know, there are a few consistent problems with going out to eat too often. I would like to go over a few that are the most important to me and add my insight from my restaurant working experience (going on about 8 years now).
Some restaurants, of course, are more aware than other ones about these issues. The widespread farm-to-table movement is definitely proof of that. But I find that these problems still exist, even with the purest ideology. For the most part they are industry standards and can be very difficult for a restaurant to modify.
#1 Factory Farm Meat and Dairy
Unfortunately, CAFOs are still an overwhelming norm in America. The percentages vary depending on where you look, but according to FarmFoward.com, over 99% of the meat raised in the US comes from CAFOs. In stark contrast to pastured animals, animals raised in these horrible places are fed grain, corn and soy; kept in cramped close quarters and injected with various hormones and antibiotics (in the US, chickens and swine are not allowed to be given hormones, but can be given antibiotics; cows can be given both). Both of which end up in the final product.
According the Sally Fallon Morrell, people on an otherwise healthy diet can handle a small amount of commercially raised meat (Nourishing Traditions). She calls them "compromise foods" and warns to only eat them in small amounts. In other words, they are not the worst things you can eat if in a food-limited situation. However, she does put pasteurized, homogenized milk (commercial milk) into the "newfangled" category and warns that they are "best avoided by everybody". This is a problem because, while most good restaurants nowadays have better meat options, they still have (pardon me) crap milk options. I have noticed this working in restaurants and going out to eat. For some reason, chefs (pastry and savory) seem to overlook the dairy they use while at the same time ordering high quality meat. Therefore, it is more of a prerogative for me to avoid dairy in restaurants, but it can be difficult. Cream sauces, cream based soups, and desserts are the most obvious. I do make an exception for butter because it can be a much better cooking oil or sauce option when trying to avoid other things such as...
#2 Gross Modern Vegetable Oil
This is actually #1 for me personally. My biggest pet peeve if you will. Modern vegetable oils, including soy and canola as the top offenders, but also corn, cottonseed and some olive oils, are extracted by a process that strips any nutritive value, destabilizes the fats, and involves harsh chemicals (called a solvent) and, sometimes, hydrogenation. The result? Cancer and heart disease causing cooking oil not fit for even the poor rats they have been tested on. In the groundbreaking article "The Oiling of America", Sally Fallon Morell and Mary Enig describe the dangers of modern vegetable oils:
"Because polyunsaturates are highly subject to rancidity, they increase the body's need for vitamin E and other antioxidants. Excess consumption of vegetable oils is especially damaging to the reproductive organs and the lungs—both of which are sites for huge increases in cancer in the US. In test animals, diets high in polyunsaturates from vegetable oils inhibit the ability to learn, especially under conditions of stress; they are toxic to the liver; they compromise the integrity of the immune system; they depress the mental and physical growth of infants; they increase levels of uric acid in the blood; they cause abnormal fatty acid profiles in the adipose tissues; they have been linked to mental decline and chromosomal damage; they accelerate aging. Excess consumption of polyunsaturates is associated with increasing rates of cancer, heart disease and weight gain; excess use of commercial vegetable oils interferes with the production of prostaglandins leading to an array of complaints ranging from autoimmune disease to PMS. Disruption of prostaglandin production leads to an increased tendency to form blood clots, and hence myocardial infarction, which has reached epidemic levels in America."
The BIG problem is that almost all restaurants use some type of vegetable oil, and I have found that it is almost always soy or a soy oil blend. Soy oil is particulary damaging because it retains soy proteins which have an array of health issues associated with them. Also, many people are allergic to soy which is why is it so troubling that restaurants continue to use the oil. Also, most restaurants that claim to use olive oil tend to use a "blended oil" that also contains a vegetable oil and is a cheaper alternative to pure olive oil. In fact nowadays, olive oil can even be mislabeled and can be unknowlingly adulterated with vegetable oil. (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller).
I would also like to add that finding out what oil a restaurant uses can be very difficult. It is not an issue many people seem to be aware of, or they may believe they are doing the right thing by using a "healthy" vegetable oil. I have worked in great restaurants that cook with a good amount of butter and olive oil, but would still use veg oil for smaller tasks such as roasting nuts and salad dressings. For that reason, I do not eat salads out too often, but you can always sneak in your own dressings. High-end restaurants will tend to stick to olive oil in sauces because it tastes better and I think it would be easier to ask about sauces than cooking oils. I would recommend choosing a few restaurants that you visit often and being very honest with a server, bartender, or manager and tell them why you prefer your food to be cooked with a pure olive oil or butter. I do NOT recommend lying about an allergy. Even though it may be tempting at times, I think it is disrespectful to the people who actually struggle with them. The oil issue is directly linked to my next concern...
#3 GMOs
Corn, soy, cottonseed and canola oils are all genetically modified. Milk products may also contain GM proteins from growth hormones (rbGH and variations). Restaurants not cooking from scratch may have many products with corn and soy in them, but the most common are the cooking oils. Unfortunately, even restaurants that try to avoid GMOs have a hard time with it because they are not labeled in this country. It is not the restaurants fault, and we should all do our part to try and get GMO lableing laws past so that they have the option to avoid them. Check out this great interview with Jeffrey Smith about avoiding GMOs at restaurants.
https://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2011/10/avoiding-gmos-when-eating-out-with-jeffrey-smith.html.
#4 MSG
MSG, or mono-sodium glutamate is an isolated salt of glutamic acid and used as a flavor enhancer in almost all processed foods. Since its arrival in the American market in the late 40s, MSG has been extremely controversial and, I think, there is well over enough evidence to prove that is is bad for people. MSG is an excitotoxin, meaning it has the ability to literally stimulate cells to death; specifically brains cells, by the use of glutamate receptors which are abundant in the brain. There is a wonderful book by Russell L. Blaylock called Excitotoxins in which he connects MSG with Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative diseases, as well as obesity and poor development in children.
MSG can come in different forms and by many different names. Restaurants may order hundreds or no processed foods. Of course restaurants that cook from scratch will probably not add MSG to foods. If they are an Asian restaurant, they may add some form of it (and even still try to claim that they are MSG free). My biggest concern in restaurants in soy sauce and worcestershire sauce. If made traditionally, these sauces do not need to contain MSG; however most commercial varieties do. I would say, to be safe, stay away from most brown sauces and any cocktail such as a Bloody Mary that may contain either of these. Ask if the restaurant makes sauces from scratch and avoid Asian restaurants that you do not know about or get dishes with no sauce.
#5 Tap Water
I described a little of the dangers of unfiltered tap water here.
Restaurants do not filter their water so you will always have more exposure there. The main culprits are stocks and soups, pasta/rice/beans or anything that needs to be cooked with water, coffeee, tea and house-made cocktails or drinks. This is the least concerning to me, but I do feel that it should be mentioned as a reason to perhaps not go out to eat every day.
I do not go out to eat very often, for the above reasons and also cost, but these issues do very much affect me personally. When you work in a restaurant, generally they are obligated to serve you some sort of "staff meal" at least once a shift. It varies widely, as does the quality of the food served. You are also, hopefully, obligated to try the foods that you serve to guests. I was so happy when I started in my new place because they serve us the same foods that are on the menu. Other restaurants would order food specifically for the staff and it would not be as high quality. Now, I am served the same farm-to-table foods that are on the menu. However, the above rules all still apply. Also, I am in the suburbs now. When I worked in NYC, I could run out and get a smoothie or something nearby (I even use to down some raw oysters at a nearby inexpensive seafood restaurant on my break), but not anymore. So recently I have been trying to bring in some snacks and not rely on the staff meal too often. But it can be difficult... the food we serve is excellent and it is very generous of the kitchen staff to make us food at the end of a shift when they are tired too.
Now with all this concern piled on more concern, you would think we should all boycott all restaurants. However, going out to eat is also a very enjoyable experience and many restaurants exist that I would like to support even though they may participate in one of the above offenses. My advice would be, if going out in your neighborhood, to ask around and to focus on restaurants with some type of ideology that you agree with, say organic, local, or even an ethnic favorite of yours, and ask them all your questions in advance. Maybe email them if talking in person makes you uncomfortable. These restaurants are more likely to be used to questions and, for me anyway, I would prefer these types of questions to other ones. I think the 90/10 rule is a good one; if you eat really good foods 90% of the time, 10% of the time you can compromise and not worry. I am headed on vacation soon for Chirstmas, so I will be going out at least one meal a day.
How do you handle going out to eat? Are there any restaurants that you recommend? Any more advice is greatly appreciated!
http://naughtynutritionist.com/soy/soy-hidden-health-dangers/
http://www.goodsearch.com/search-web?keywords=the+oiling+of+america
www.eatwild.com
http://www.msgexposed.com/
http://www.labelgmos.org/
http://seedsofdeception.com/
