Does your habit of eating out affect your health more than you think?

Obesity, high blood pressure, prediabeteshigh cholesterol. For former New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells, these health problems are the price he paid for his job sampling the best restaurants in New York City.

Wells announced that he would relinquish his role as the paper’s chief restaurant critic to care for his health. Over twelve years he reviewed some 500 restaurants and ate at least three meals at each place before writing about it.

“When I got to the end of all that eating, I realized I wasn’t hungry. And I still am not, at least not in the way I used to be,” Wells wrote. “I have decided to bow as gracefully as my state of technical obesity will allow.”

Few Americans eat out as much as a restaurant critic. But American adults eat about a third of their calories from food prepared outside the home, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Over time, eating out can take a toll on your health. How much is too much?

Why eating out is linked to worse health outcomes

Restaurant food is usually prepared as tasty as possible. That may mean adding more butter, oil, salt and sugar than most people would use to make the same dish at home.

“I was a restaurant chef working in restaurants in New York City, and I know firsthand the amount of butter and the amount of salt that restaurant kitchens put in their food to make it taste really good. It is very different from the way people cook at home in their own kitchens,” he says Julia Wolfson, PhD, an associate professor of human nutrition at Johns Hopkins University.

Fast food tends to be incredibly high in calories and low in nutrients, Wolfson said. But that also applies to many restaurant dishes. In restaurants, portion sizes are usually larger and people can eat multiple courses, such as an appetizer, a main course and a dessert.

“Not everyone cooks and eats in that quantity when they prepare meals at home,” she said.

Research shows that eating home-cooked food is linked to better diet quality. Lower diet quality is a major risk factor for many chronic health problems, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Even if they eat out occasionally, people who cook often tend to eat a more balanced diet and consume fewer calories, less fat, sodium and sugar.

If people regularly eat sugary or rich foods, they may crave them at every meal, Wolfson said.

In his essay, Wells mentioned the physiological changes experienced by his colleague Adam Platt New York Magazine‘s restaurant critic for 24 years.

“Your body changes over time,” Platt told Wells. “You have a huge swollen belly that wants to be filled. All those weird sensors in your brain screaming for deliciousness are there all day long on DEFCON 1. You become addicted.”

How often is it okay to eat out?

A 2007-2008 national survey found that Americans cooked at home an average of five nights a week, and about half of respondents said they “always” cooked at home.

Ten years later, about 55% of American adults aged 20 and older reported getting food from restaurants on any given day.

The Dietary Guidelines– the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recommendations for healthy eating do not specify the exact number of times people can eat out to stay healthy.

There are many types of establishments that serve food: from fast-food restaurants to healthier fast-casual salad chains to fine-dining restaurants. This variation makes it impossible to create a strict rule of thumb for how often you eat out.

The location of a meal — at home or in a restaurant — doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the ingredients and the wholesomeness of the preparation, Wolfson said.

According to a USDA spokesperson, cooking at home is often a healthier option because it gives people control over their ingredients. This allows them to balance their food groups and minimize added sugars, fats and sodium.

“Preparing meals with family and friends also provides the opportunity for greater connection and enjoyment around food, and for those who are parents, guardians or caregivers, it provides the opportunity to learn and teach valuable cooking and meal planning skills. to model behaviors that promote the adoption of healthy diets in children and adolescents,” the spokesperson told Verywell in an email.

How to dine healthier

It is not realistic to prepare and eat every meal at home. That shouldn’t be the goal: eating out can be a fun social activity and a way to discover different types of food.

Instead of avoiding all options for eating out, Wolfson says she encourages people to think about their overall diet. For example, if you’re eating at a restaurant, you can adjust the other meals you eat during the week to make sure you hit your key food groups.

She also recommends being intentional about choosing a restaurant with menu items that will help you eat a nutritious meal. Making a plan for what you’re going to order before you arrive can help you create a balanced meal.

Since 2018, food chains have been required to publicly share the calories and other nutrition facts for their food products. If you can’t find that information on the menu at the restaurant or you feel uncomfortable asking for it, you can often find it online.

Sometimes you are entertaining customers or invited to dinner for a friend’s birthday and you have no control over the restaurant.

To keep your portions moderate, you can order an appetizer but skip an entrée and dessert. If you plan to take leftovers home, you may feel less compelled to overeat. When you ask for salad dressings and sauces, you can decide how much to use in your dish.

You might also consider ordering two entrees, as these tend to be more plant-based than entrees with an emphasis on red meat and other heavy animal proteins.

“At many restaurants, the best dishes are in the appetizer section,” says Wolfson. “You get the right amount of food, you can get more vegetables and you don’t spend as much money.”

What this means for you

Eating out regularly, especially at restaurants serving rich, high-calorie dishes, can have a negative impact on your health over time. While it’s unrealistic to not eat out at all, being aware of your food choices and portion sizes can help you maintain better overall health.