Click on "food" to turn into gold! 333 Guidelines for eating out to stay healthy

The number of people eating out in Taiwan has continued to increase in recent years, and restaurants have become an important dining place that people who eat out rely on. Although people's nutritional awareness is gradually rising, the current dining environment for eating out cannot meet consumers' expectations. Nutritionists recommend that people who eat out should follow the 333 nutrition principle when choosing meals, i.e. "3 meals on time, less salt, less sugar, less fat, more fiber, more grains, and more calcium". By following these simple and easy-to-understand nutrition guidelines, you can turn "food" into gold and manage your health wisely.

Health teacher You Xuanwen said that a high proportion of Chinese office workers eat out for their three meals, and the food eaten out can easily lead to health problems such as nutritional imbalance, "three highs", obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and constipation. (Photo by Zhang Shijie)

The Taiwan Nutrition Foundation and the Tung Foundation jointly conducted a "Survey on Nutritional Needs of Eat-out People", and found that more than 70% of the public believe that the food they eat out does not meet their daily nutritional needs; 65% of eaters believe that it is not easy to obtain food that meets nutritional intake standards, and more than 60% of the public will deliberately choose healthy food or healthy light meals when eating out; in addition, most eaters believe that some restaurants ignore nutritional considerations in pursuit of deliciousness, which is one of the important factors that prevent people from taking in a balanced amount of nutrients when eating out.

You Xuanwen, a nutritionist at the Tung Foundation, said that a high proportion of Chinese office workers eat out for their three meals a day, and eating out can easily lead to health problems such as nutritional imbalance, the three highs, obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and constipation. The survey results show that as many as 98% of people who eat out are willing to pay more to choose healthy and nutritious meals, and more than 40% of people are willing to spend an extra 50 yuan per meal to buy healthier meals.

In addition, nearly 50% of the people believe that meals that meet health and nutritional standards can be delicious, indicating that people who eat out expect restaurants to provide delicious meals that meet nutritional standards. In particular, foodies at home and abroad are paying more and more attention to their own health. However, due to Taiwan’s current food environment, there are still only a few restaurants that provide nutritionally balanced meals. Consumers can only choose their diet according to their own preferences, but most people still hope to eat nutritious and healthy meals, or that restaurants can directly provide menus that meet health needs.

Nutritionist You Xuanwen stressed that in order to cater to the public's taste, most take-out meals contain too much salt, sugar and fat, resulting in a general lack of calcium and excess sodium in the diet of Chinese people. Coupled with the low level of physical exercise, this may have a significant impact on physical health in the long run.

She called on people who eat out to avoid high-calorie and high-fat foods such as minced meat, stews, and thickened foods when dining out; to replace meat with beans and fish for protein; to consume two different kinds of vegetables at each meal, and to drink less thick soup and stews and use clear soup instead.