Answers
1. Which is the healthiest soda?
Answer: B
Seltzer. It has zero calories, and Canada Dry Naturally Flavored Lemon-Lime Twist Sparkling Seltzer Water is a pretty amazing drink with natural flavoring. Ginger Ale has a bit of health halo. While ginger has health benefits, the soft drink has 140 calories per 12 ounces, similar to regular cola. Diet soda is not getting very good press based on recent research.
More: What You Should Know About Soft Drinks
2. It's Cinco de Mayo, and you're celebrating with a little Mexican food. After scanning the menu for a few minutes, you confidently choose which of the following options?
Answer: D
Fajitas are the only option that is not fried or covered with mounds of cheese. However, the portions do tend to be large, so you may want to share this dish with a dinner companion. Fajitas are not deep fried, but close. Still, you can control the fat content by asking the server to have the chef use very little oil and avoid the "sizzle." Also, be wary of what comes with the fajitas sour cream, guacamole and tortilla shells.
What's wrong with the other choices?
A. Chimichangas are fried burritos, which is why this choice is not good.
B. Were you fooled by the word "salad"? The shell the salad comes in contains about 1,000 calories—that's before adding all the calories in the ground beef, olives, cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
C. Cheese, cheese and more cheese.
Note: To keep your calories low when ordering Mexican:
- Ask for high-fat condiments such as sour cream and guacamole to be served on the side, and use them sparingly.
- Ask for dishes to be made with half the cheese.
- Skip the refried beans—they're usually cooked with lard or bacon.
- Limit or skip the chips and salsa on the table.
More: What is Visceral Fat and Other Fat Facts
3. You're off to Little Italy with a group of friends. Which menu item is the lowest-calorie option?
Answer: C
Linguini with red clam sauce. This is one of the lower-calorie choices available at an Italian restaurant. Red clam sauce contains much less fat and oil than white clam sauce.
What's wrong with the other choices?
A. Alfredo sauce is made with cheese and butter.
B. Lasagna is typically made with lots of high-fat meat and cheese. Sorry to be a spoilsport, but vegetarian lasagnas are high in fat, too—because of the cheese and cream sauce that are usually used.
D. Did the eggplant throw you off? Grilled eggplant is a delicious and nutritious choice. Eggplant Parmigiana is breaded, deep-fried and covered with cheese—big difference!
