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HEALTHY EATING; Quincy Eatery is Helping Customers to Eat Healthy

Posted on: Friday, 10 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Joan Endyke

Joan Endyke

Eating out - healthy - just got easier with the opening Eatin' Healthy, a chic caf in Quincy that not only talks the talk but walks the walk. The menu is brimming with fresh vegetable selections, often missing in most fast food joints, but desperately needed in the American diet. The 2005 dietary guidelines recommend 2 cups daily for children over 8 and up to 4 cups for an active male. Salads with an array of greens and colorful veggies topped with granola, vegetable "matchsticks" with roasted red pepper dip (fresh cut, raw veggies in a large plastic cup for those on the go), daily homemade soups, veggie egg dishes and wraps are some of the unique and tasty offerings. Sandwiches are made with wholesome breads or wraps, with reasonable calorie amounts (120 calories for 2 slices of the 7 grain bread.) Artichoke tomato spread, Asian infused dressing, and garlic mayo offer flavor with out breaking the calorie bank. Fresh fruit yogurt parfaits can satisfy a sweet tooth while providing potassium, magnesium, protein and calcium. Located at 1253 Hancock St. in Quincy (in front of the Quincy center T station,) Eatin' Healthy delivers to local businesses. Some restaurants provide an illusion of healthy eating in carefully worded entre descriptions. Applebee's low-fat grilled chicken pasta, for example, packs a gut busting 873 calories and Panera's tuna salad sandwich on honey wheat 720 calories with 44 grams of fat, close to 75 percent of daily needs. Compare with Eatin' Healthy's chicken salad sandwich, 300 calories, 11 grams of fat or their chicken parmesan, 370 calories, 6 grams of fat. Nutritional information for every item - calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, fiber, sugar, protein and carbohydrates - is displayed in plain view (gasp!). Try to get your hands on this in other eateries without "annoying" the manager - fat chance. Why should you care? Excess calories and artery-clogging fat are lurking in every take-out, sit-down and drive through joint in the United States. With two-thirds of our population overweight, and heart disease our number one killer, a wise diner is an informed diner.

Joan Endyke is a registered dietitian with a master's degree in nutrition and food science, and also a certified personal trainer. She is the nutrition director at Fitness Unlimited. Readers may send questions about nutrition to Endyke at Fitness Unlimited, 364 Granite Ave., Milton, MA 02186 or by E-mail to jendyke@fitnessunlimited.com.

The information in this column is not intended to diagnose individual conditions. Readers should see their doctors about specific problems.

Source: Patriot Ledger, The; Quincy, Mass.

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