Whenever you get a bit hungry you probably don't go to the kitchen and make a salad. Like us, you're more likely to pop out for a takeaway. Sadly, going for a healthy option normally takes a conscious effort and more than a little willpower. But despite its unhealthy reputation, there is some fast food you can eat without any risk of padding your arteries or your waistline. Make the right choice and your polystyrene box could even contain something that's positively good for you.
To make sure that you choose the healthiest, lowest fat options on offer, we got our food expert to analyse the nutritional content of the standard takeaway menu. As the results show, junk food turns out to be better for you than it's generally thought to be.
B U R G E R S
The verdict
A good, standard burger, made from 100% beef, topped with tomato ketchup, lettuce,
tomato and chopped onion and held together in a sesame seed bun is at lot healthier
than you might have imagined. It gives you just 15g of fat and 386 calories
and can be filling enough to keep you going until teatime. You'll also get around
a third of your daily protein from the burger plus iron for maintaining a good
supply of oxygen to your muscles.
Our advice Avoid ordering double cheeseburgers. They supply nearly 60g
of fat and over 900 calories, which we are sure you could do without.
K E B A B S
The verdict
The doner kebab, consisting of grilled meat in a plain pitta filled with salad,
is a meal to avoid - it's literally dripping in fat. In most cases you're looking
at 35g plus. The mixed salad is a point in its favour, though.
Our advice Choose a chicken shish kebab. This is basically grilled, skewered
hicken, also served in a pitta with salad, but containing only 10g of fat, making
it considerably more heart-friendly than the doner. What's more, you'll get
nearly all the protein you need for the day. You can liven it up a little with
some chilli sauce.
P I Z Z A S
The verdict
Even if you go for the simplest, lowest fat pizza on the standard menu, you'll
have consumed 1,140 calories and 34g of fat if you eat the whole thing. That
comes to nearly 40% of your day's maximum if you're watching your cholesterol
levels.
Our advice To slim down pizzas, ask for less or no cheese and go for
ones without meat toppings. Better, go for spaghetti dishes. A portion of spaghetti
supplies only 9g of fat and 426 calories.
B A K E D
P O T A T O E S
The verdict
A really good, filling option if you choose the right combination. With beef
chilli, for example, you'll have put away just 16g of fat and the iron in the
beef will have been absorbed better due to the vitamin C in the potato. You'll
get a whole day's recommended dose of vitamin C in this one meal and nearly
half a day's fibre.
Our advice Don't go for fillings such as cheese with butter. That will
give you 30g of fat minimum. In fact, don't go for butter at all. If the topping
is tasty enough you won't miss it.