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Eating out. Eating smart.

Healthy eating doesn’t mean giving up your favourite foods. It isn’t one particular food that affects your health but rather the overall food choices you make in your diet – not just on one day, but through the week. When eating out, remember to state what you prefer – this can make a difference to the nutritional value of your choices.

To stay on track for a healthy diet, you need to control your intake of fat, cholesterol, sugar and sodium. Portion size matters too. Sticking to moderate portions will help you control calorie intake.

Calorie Counter
	1g of carbohydrate provides 4 calories
	1g of protein provides 4 calories
	1g of fat provides 9 calories

	A teaspoon (5g) of oil, butter or margarine provides approximately 45 calories

Tips to control calorie intake

Ask for smaller servings
Ask for more vegetables and less meat
Ask for less sugar
Go easy on deep-fried food (no more than 2 times a week) and rich dessert

Tips to control sugar intake

Ask for less syrup for your dessert
Have a fruit instead of dessert
Fresh fruit is the best choice, followed by those canned in their own juice or light syrup
Drink plain water instead of sweetened soft drinks. When selecting soft drinks, opt for diet soft drinks instead
Ask for fresh or unsweetened natural fruit juice
Go easy on sugar in your tea and coffee
Replace condensed milk with evaporated, low fat or skim milk

Tips to control sodium intake

Ask for less salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, tomato ketchup and other sauces in your food
Taste your food before adding salt, soy sauce or any other sauce to your food
Ask for food to be enhanced with ginger, garlic, chilli and other natural herbs and spices
Try to avoid packaged, canned and processed foods such as kiam chye, crackers, ham, bacon and sausages

Tips to control fat, saturated fat & cholesterol intake

Go for grilled, baked, broiled or lightly stir-fried dishes
Limit intake of deep-fried food. When eating these foods, remove the fried outer coating, especially for batter-fried food
Choose lean meat or chicken
Ask for visible fat or skin of poultry to be removed
Choose plain rice over flavoured rice (e.g chicken rice, nasi lemak, nasi briyani)
Eat chapatti or bread instead of roti prata
Wet or fresh noodle-based dishes are better choices compared to instant noodles
Go for soupy noodle dishes instead of fried or dried noodle dishes
Ask for less oil when you order fried noodles or rice
Skim off oil from the surface of soups, curries and stews
Leave behind the gravy in laksa or other gravies laden with oil
Have a fruit instead of dessert
Ask for skim or low-fat milk instead of evaporated or coconut milk in desserts
Ask for skim or low-fat milk in tea or coffee
Limit consumption of coconut or coconut-milk based food
Ask for food cooked in unsaturated oils like canola, corn, soy, sunflower, safflower, peanut and olive oil
Limit consumption of food cooked with lard, butter or ghee
Ask for less spreads in your sandwiches
Go for grilled or broiled burgers with less mayonnaise
Order mashed potatoes or a salad instead of French fries
Limit intake of organ meats
Go easy on egg yolks – limit yourself to no more than 4 egg yolks per week

Eating out in restaurants?

Get healthier menu items in fast food restaurants
Many fast food joints now accommodate "special requested orders”.

Ask for less sauce and more vegetables the next time you visit a fast food eatery.
Or you could visit a list of Healthier Dining restaurants in Singapore brought to you by the Health Promotion Board!

	Find out how your doctor can help
	How the iDecide Program can help