The Dish dietitians’ take-away moments
Always more calories, fat, salt in your restaurant meal than you expect
Since The Dish’s first calorie reveal in March, 2010, the same three registered dietitians have provided their expert opinions on the food.
They have watched the rise and fall of Toronto food trends (hello poke bowls; goodbye chocolate-covered bacon), the arrival of meal delivery services and a subtle but important shift in nutrition thinking.
Here are their reflections on eight years of being front-row observers to The Dish. Carol Harrison, registered dietitian and founder of Yummy Lunch Club, an online healthy eating resource for parents and kids: “I often wished it was easier to find items that deserved a double-thumbs up in terms of nutrition. I would rather point people to a healthy meal than always advising them to ‘share with a friend.’ The fact that it was hard to find these kinds of healthy restaurant foods means we are better off — for the most part — bringing lunch to work. I cook extra for dinner and pack up the leftovers with additional veggies for lunch. That’s the best way to go. “My most memorable The Dish featured the vegan sweet potato date muffin from Urban Herbivore (when published on March 1, 2013, this muffin contained nearly1,000 calories). It’s memorable, not because the calorie count was so shocking, but because the owners did something about it — they cut their muffin size in half. (In May, 2014, The Dish found Urban Herbivore’s new ‘Muffie’ had a more reasonable, though still meal-sized, 514 calories.) I like to think that other restaurant owners are conscious of that particular column and may give sober second thoughts to what they put on their menus or how they craft their recipes.” Zannat Reza, registered dietitian and founder and CEO of thrive360, a health communications company: “At the beginning of The Dish, I was shocked at the amount of calories in restaurant meals. And the sodium. Wow! I really had no idea how salty restaurant meals often are. But after a while, I got desensitized to the numbers and it took a lot to shock me because outrageous nutrition numbers were expected.
“Now, the nutrition profession is moving toward a more holistic approach and focusing more on the quality of food and less on fat grams, for example, or even calories.
“Still, commenting on this column has caused me to think twice about eating out. We still do (as a family), but definitely not as often and I’m more cognizant about what we order. That said, I definitely don’t want people feeling guilty about going to restaurants. I hope that The Dish — as it did for me — gave people pause to maybe say, ‘If I eat out five days a week, I’ll cut it down to two days a week.’ ” Shannon Crocker, registered dietitian and owner of Vibrant Nutrition Communications “A lot of what we’ve done with The Dish is help people manage portion sizes. We said, yes enjoy that great tasting meal but eat half or share with a friend or opt for the smallest size, rather than telling people they can never have that delicious food again.
“That’s what I do when I dine out. I enjoy the food experience but manage my portion size because I now know there is going to be a lot more calories, fat and salt in my meal than I’d expect.
Also, after having commented on The Dish for so long, I’m only surprised when nutrition results show a meal is healthier than I thought it would be. My best advice now is if you want to eat out more healthily, dine out less often because you’re almost always going to have more on your plate than you imagine.”
“I would rather point people to a healthy meal than always advising them to ‘share with a friend.’ ” CAROL HARRISON FOUNDER, YUMMY LUNCH CLUB