How to Eat Out without Sabotaging your Goals
By Brigitta Jansen MS CNS CHC
While home cooked foods are usually best, eating out is part of our social life and any sustainable nutrition plan has to include options for takeouts and restaurants that still keep you on track to reach your goals.
Plus, there will be times when you are traveling and don’t have access to your usual food choices. At other times you may be in an all day work training where lunch is provided. Or you may come home after a long day and are too tired to cook and just want to get some takeout.
Working with clients who use continuous glucose monitors for weight loss and fitness, I have seen many people get blood sugar spikes from eating out when their blood sugars were otherwise in range all day or all week. Restaurant meals can easily spike your blood sugar, but there are things you can do to minimize glucose spikes and still enjoy a nice dinner out with friends or family.
When it comes to blood sugar, vegetables high in fiber as well as proteins and healthy fats keep your blood sugar steady and in range. And keeping your blood sugar stable will help you lose weight, lower your A1c and is generally anti-inflammatory. Carbs low in fiber like starches and sugars on the other hand will cause good glucose to rise rather steeply for most people, especially in the absence of fiber and protein. Having your carbs in balance with protein and fiber will keep you in range while still enjoying your meal. Here is how:
Know your Carbs
Carbs like rice, potato, French fries or bread and buns are cheap and fill people up, whereas proteins like fish, chicken or beef and high fiber vegetables are much more expensive. Therefore most takeout places or restaurants will serve ample amounts of starches/carbs but limit protein and vegetables. Most restaurant or fast food meals will have much more carbs than protein, resulting in blood sugar spikes.
Here is a rule of thumb for restaurant meals:
Eat all of the protein and all of the veggies or salad but only half of the carbs/starches. This way you are much more likely to get the right balance of protein, carbs and veggies.
Another glucose hack is to have fiber first, then protein, and then any starches or carbs in moderation. This means having a salad or vegetables high in fiber, then some protein, before digging into carbs like rice, potatoes or some French fries.
Skip the bread basket
While the basket of freshly baked bread is definitely tempting, having a fast carb on an empty stomach pretty much guarantees a blood sugar spike. I have not seen anyone’s glucose levels stay normal while having bread before other foods.
Appetizers
If you have an appetizer, choose a protein or salad. Avoid appetizers that are mostly carbs and will spike blood glucose, for example bruschetta, spring rolls, potato skins, pita bread with Hummus, nachos, Mini sandwiches, crackers or pretzels.
Here are some ideas:
- Beef skewers, e.g., teriyaki or chimichurri
- Mini meatballs beef, pork, or turkey
- Bacon-wrapped asparagus with or without cheese
- Chicken satay with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce is likely high in sugar so use sparingly
- Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus
- Mini steak bites with garlic butter or chimichurri
- Mini sausages, like cocktail weenies or kielbasa
Choose dishes featuring a protein
Dishes like risotto or pasta and pizza may have some protein added but they are mostly carbs. There may be a few shrimp in the risotto or some meat sauce on your spaghetti or pepperoni on your pizza, but the portion size of fast carbs greatly exceeds that of the protein. For example, 1 pizza can have up to 300g of carbs, and very fast carbs at that. If you are on a weight loss journey or want to reverse diabetes or pre-diabetes, you will likely aim to stay below 100g of carbs for the entire day. One whole pizza would be equivalent to 8-15 slices of bread depending on the size. That’s a lot of dough.
If possible, choose dishes that have a protein at least the size of the palm of your hand, for example a fillet of fish or a chicken breast or a steak, plus veggies and a starch. By having dishes where the starches are separate, i.e. not mixed into the meal, you can control the amount you eat.
Sauces and Condiments
Sauces, especially Asian sauces, can hide a lot of sugar. Working with many clients who use continuous glucose meters, I have seen glucose spikes after chicken with broccoli without rice but with an Asian sauce. Fructose, sugar and corn starch or dextrose are the main ingredients responsible for spiky sauces.
Sauces and condiments high in carbs/sugar:
- Ketchup: 4.5g per tablespoon
- Teriyaki sauces: 2.8g per tablespoon
- Hoisin Sauce: 7.1g per tablespoon
- Honey Mustard Sauce: 5-7g per tablespoon
- BBQ sauce 7-8g per tablespoon
- Gravy: can be high or low in carbs depending how much cornstarch is used.
- Peanut sauce: 4g per tablespoon
- Sweet chili sauce: 4-9g per tablespoon
- Sweet and Sour Sauce: 7g per tablespoon
- Korean Gochujang Chili sauce: 10-14g per tablespoon
Keep in mind that 1 tablespoon is not much, most people will have a lot more than that in their meals. This can add up quickly and cause glucose spikes. Asian sauces are particularly high in sugar.
Consider dishes with sauces low in sugar:
- Chimicurri
- Hollandaise Sauce
- Béarnaise Sauce
- Demi-glace from reduced stock
- Peppercorn sauce
- Hot sauce
- Mustard
- Soy sauce
- Pesto
- Mayonnaise
- Pico de Gallo
- Chamoy Sauce
- Enchilada sauce, Mexican red sauce, and Queso dips can be high or low in sugar depending on the restaurant and ingredients.
Salads and Salad Dressings
While salads with a protein are generally a great choice when eating out, dressings can pack a lot of sugar and turn an otherwise healthy salad into a glucose spike. Salad dressings high in sugar include Ranch, Thousand Island, Sweet Italian Dressing, French Dressing Honey Mustard, Balsamic and Raspberry Vinaigrettes.
Consider asking for the dressing on the side so you control the amount. Or ask for olive oil and lemon or vinegar instead of dressing.
Croutons are another salad ingredient likely to spike blood sugar. Cesar salad with chicken and not too much dressing might be a good choice but it’s best to leave the croutons on the plate.
MSG or glutamate
Monosodium glutamate, or free glutamate in other forms, has been linked to diabetes and insulin resistance in some studies. MSG or free glutamate salts are not labeled in the US. The food industry has blocked attempts by non-profits to label these ingredients for fear that consumers would reject their products. They are however labeled at Restaurant Depot where restaurant owners shop. This is because restaurant owners actually want their foods to contain glutamate. It is an appetite stimulant, makes foods taste good and leads to overeating.
While it is almost guaranteed that you will consume MSG or free glutamate when eating out, and not just in Asian restaurants, there are ways to minimize your exposure.
Avoid soups. Soups in restaurants almost always contain high amounts of glutamate. This will overstimulate appetite and lead to overeating. Avoid dishes drenched in sauces, most will be high in glutamate, especially Asian sauces.
Fast Food Glucose Hacks
Burgers
Even when eating at fast food joints, there are still options available that avoid large spikes.
For example, a regular burger with a bun and fries usually leads to glucose spikes since this contains way more carbs than protein, and very little vegetables. You can improve this by leaving out half of the bun and fries, or just having fries but no bun. You can also choose a double burger giving you more protein. Skip the soda and choose a seltzer instead. With these choices you will have much less of a glucose spike and may even stay in range.
Pizza
If you love pizza, you can still get away with the occasional slice. Order a chicken Cesar salad first, so you start with fiber and protein. Then share a pizza with someone and have slice or two afterwards. You will get much less of a glucose spike than if you just had pizza, especially a whole pizza.
Wings
If you like wings, these can be great for your blood sugar. Unless covered in breading or sweet sauces, wings are pure protein. I have seen blood sugar completely unaffected by a meal of buffalo wings. They also make a great starter to share to get some protein in if you are planning to have a slice of pizza afterwards.
Mexican
Mexican food is very popular and you’ll likely find yourself ordering it sooner or later. Mexican dishes contain plenty of corn in the form of tortillas and chips that will spike blood sugar, but you can also find protein options to balance blood sugar.
Try to avoid the tempting and ubiquitous nachos and tortilla chips, and opt for a protein appetizer instead, such as ceviche, shrimp cocktail or shimmer tostadas. Jalapeño poppers are another low carb option. Guacamole will also keep your blood sugar steady due to healthy fats, having this with a few chips can work too. Starting your meal with a salad is also helpful for blood sugar since fiber lowers the glycemic index of the foods that follow.
As a main dish choose chicken or beef fajitas or a fish dish and limit tortillas to one or two, depending on size.
I have seen burritos cause predictable blood sugar spikes since the wraps in addition to rice are high in fast carbs, but if you choose a burrito salad bowl without the wrap, a small scoop of rice plus chicken or beef and beans and toppings, you can generally avoid a glucose spike.
If having tacos, have 1-2 shells or tortillas and eat all the filling. Also remember that sauces can contain a lot of sugar, so choose a low sugar sauce (see above).
In a nut shell, limit corn and rice, and go for protein, salad or veggies, and beans.
Dessert
Everyone loves dessert, especially at a nice restaurant. There will always be celebrations like birthdays or anniversaries or just gatherings with friends and family. You can have some dessert without too much of a spike. Here is how: choose desserts with more fats and less flour or flour-less. Fats slow down sugar absorption resulting in lower glucose. Cheesecake, creme brûlée or ice cream will spike your sugar less than cakes and pastries high in sugar AND flour.
If you want to have dessert, try cutting the starches in your main dish to stay within your carb “allowance”. If you had a lot of protein and veggies and only had a few spoons of rice, you can afford to have some dessert. You can also just a few spoons of someone else’s dessert or share a dessert.
Alcohol
Some types of alcohol spike blood sugar while others do not, or even cause a drop – although that does not make them healthy. Drinks that can spike blood sugar include beer and cocktails with syrups. Wine or vodka with seltzer generally do not spike glucose.
Think of your drink as a part of your carb allowance. If you are planning to have a drink, reduce the carb portion size in your entree. A drink on an empty stomach can cause much more of a spike than a drink after the meal, especially if the meal is high in fiber and protein. So while most people have a drink while waiting for their food to be served, consider having water first and then have your drink with or after dinner.
Cheat Day
Remember, enjoying life and the company of friends and family is also important for health and well being. If you glucose spikes once or twice a week but stays in range the rest of the time, you can still reach your health and weight goals. So if your glucose was great all week and you fall off the glucose wagon on a Saturday night, don’t sweat it. Maybe you can go for a walk after dinner, which lowers your glucose before going to bed leading to better sleep and morning glucose. Or just call it a Cheat Day and simply start over with balanced meals the next day.
Disclaimer:
This information is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your doctor before starting any new health regimen. Remember you are responsible for your health decisions and outcomes.
