Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

It's Friday! And you know what that means? Time for another installment of "Eating to Live on the Outside." Over the past two weeks we've examined what Eat to Livers might order at Fridays and IHOP, this week Chipotle, the fast food chain (owned by McDonalds's) that bills itself as healthy draws the shortest straw.

Let's see what Chipotle's menu has to offer:

The first thing you'll notice: no appetizers, and no desserts. A solid start if you're trying to keep the calories, oils, dairy, refined sugars, and flours to a minimum. Makes it seem like this isn't just a place where you can scratch out a healthy meal or two, but your health concerns might even seem welcome.

There are five main menu items: burritos, fajitas, burrito bols, tacos, and salads. Here's where you start thinking about where the calories come from. Any of those with grilled meat, cheese, and sour cream at the center of the party are not going to have the nutrition density that you're after. Tacos and fajitas with fried meat are the lure to avoid. But hark! Choose carefully, and here we have fast food with the magic of greens and beans!

A vegetarian burrito or (fajita burrito) with guacamole and salsa could hit the spot. If you're anti-tortilla (that's refined wheat, after all) they'll stick all that stuff in a bowl for you, and they'll give you everything just the same, except for the "w." They call it a "bol."

Burrito bol with cilantro-lime rice, vegetarian black beans, and guacamole or fajita-style with sautéed vegetables, black beans, and guacamole. I could eat that, or a salad. The vegetarian salad comes with sautéed peppers, onions, vegetarian black beans, and guacamole. You can get fresh tomatoes as an extra. They even say they're happy to customize any dish as you wish, so I imagine you could get more fresh veggies piled on top. Think they have actual avocado back in that kitchen? That would be especially good.

As always we want to hear about how you handle eating away from home. Any tips? Check out the Chipolte menu and Email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. How do you Eat to Live on the outside?

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Last week DiseaseProof looked at what "Eat to Livers" might order from the Friday's menu. This week we're serving up IHOP's menu.

Here's the question: You follow the Eat to Live plan, but your buddies are grabbing a bite to eat at the local IHOP. What do you do? This is a real trip to the dark side of nutrition. Without refined sugar, flour, and meat, it's not clear there'd be much to eat at IHOP at all!

There is hardly a meal on the menu at IHOP that's going help your jeans fit better, so your options are about the only thing that's likely to be slim at this place. (You might even consider smuggling in a head of romaine.) But we are intrepid souls, and will do our best to make a reasonably healthy meal...

Appetizer
If cheese and fried food were part of the Eat to Live plan, you'd be in nirvana. There's tons of oily gooey goodness here---skip these menu items entirely. If you really want an appetizer order a house salad with no croutons and get the dressing on the side. It's your safest bet.

Main Course
The menu is dominated by refined sugar and flour based breakfast food (pancakes, French toast, waffles, etc.), but there are non-breakfast foods as well. If you're hell-bent on breakfast try the Harvest Grain 'N Nut Pancakes ("hearty grains, wholesome oats, almonds and English walnuts") and beg for some fresh fruit to go on top instead of those sugary fruit toppings and whipped cream.

If you're not in a breakfast mood give the Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad a whirl (with or without the chicken). Ditch the croutons and you have a nice pile of greens, granted you have the Parmesan cheese to contend with, but since you've decided to stay and eat, be prepared to make concessions.

You might be tempted by the Spinach salad. What could be more healthy than that? But check out what comes with it: "hickory smoked bacon pieces, tomatoes, shredded Parmesan cheese, Bleu cheese crumbles and diced, crispy-fried chicken. Tossed in a delicious honey mustard dressing and served with toasted garlic bread." That leaves you with a bowl of spinach and tomatoes--or the the vast majority of your calories from those things up at the top of Dr. Fuhrman's pyramid that are best eaten only "rarely."

Another option is the Grilled Cod Hollandaise. Tell the waiter to hold off on the sauce and order it with salad, vegetable and potato. That's not too painful.

Dessert
You've got problems here. Like Friday's menu, you can forget finding any Fuhrman-friendly selections. The three choices all include ice cream. Resist the urge and treat yourself to some fresh fruit later.

Yup, maintaining nutritional excellence can be tough and not every situation is conducive to the plan, but do your best to be smart about it. That's what I do.

We want to hear about how you handle eating away from home. Any tips? Check out the IHOP menu and Email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. How do you Eat to Live on the outside?

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This blog is all about the wonders of incredibly healthy food. When you eat fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds account for the majority of your diet, there are marvelous health benefits.

But what do you do when someone invites you to dinner in a restaurant? After all, we live in the real world. What to order?

Most restaurants aren't exactly Fuhrman-friendly. Some are better than others, but you'd be hard-pressed to find Squash Fantasia or Vindaloo Vegetables on most menus. So the question still remains: When you're out with friends, what do you eat?

There are lots of popular eateries out there. In the weeks to come, just for fun, we're going to look at the menus of many of them, and try to figure out some choices. Again, this is Gerry speaking, I'm not a doctor, and these are not medical recommendations. But I am someone who does his best to follow the Eat to Live recommendations, and I know that I am not the only one to have been mystified by menus. It seems like it could be helpful to all of us to muddle through some menus and see what we can come up with.

Today, our task is to imagine we're slipping into a booth at T.G.I. Friday's.

The Friday's menu is filled with good looking dishes, but most of them aren't going to compute with Eat to Live. With every dish you're probably going to have to make some concessions, but don't fret, even Dr. Fuhrman acknowledges that there are adjustments to be made when eating away from the home.

Using my Eat to Live knowledge, here's what I'd order:

Appetizer
There's a part of me that is drawn to the Zen Chicken Pot Stickers. They're not full of cheese, fried, or topped with bacon, which in this lineup counts as health food. Other options: pray the Soup of the Day is tomato, bean, or something that is vegetable-based or trans-fat (margarine) and butter-free. Or, of course, there's really nothing wrong with a house salad with the dressing on the side.

Entrée
Me? I'd go with the Shanghai Chicken Salad, even though the Santa Fe seems healthier. The spiciness might be an issue for some people, myself included. If you skipped the appetizer or ordered a house salad, you might want to keep the chicken on this dish, if not ask the waiter for no chicken. Just remember to go easy on the Cilantro-Lime dressing.

Another good option is on the low-fat menu: "A roasted mild whitefish topped with a roma tomato-basil salsa and drizzled with balsamic glaze. Served with steamed herbed rice and broccoli." I'm suspicious of any and all "glazes," but no doubt you could get a little balsamic vinegar instead.

Pasta is not on Dr. Fuhrman's favored foods list, but as long as we're talking about compromises, you could also consider the Vegetable Grill: "Portobello mushroom marinated and grilled with asparagus, red pepper, zucchini and squash. Served with angel hair pasta, tomato-basil salsa and Balsamic Vinaigrette."

Dessert
Your best bet here is not even to look at that page of the menu. Nothing on the menu is going earn you a gold star from Dr. Fuhrman.

So there you have it, that's what I'd do if I found myself in a Friday's with no fresh fruits and vegetables in sight. I'd try to pick dishes with as many vegetables as possible (especially greens), but what would you do? Email us at diseaseproof@gmail.com or leave a comment. What restaurant tips are you willing to share? We'd love to hear from you.

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