Fast food versus regular restaurants

Fast food restaurants have taken a hit by the media and health professionals as far as being high in calories and low in nutrition. But according to Dr. Mercola, the meals you eat at regular restaurants are even worse calorie-wise.

First of all, home cooked meals are obviously better for you, as you usually eat smaller portions and ingest less calories than the huge portions served at either type of restaurant. However, the portions also tend to be smaller and have fewer calories at fast food restaurants than the ones served in regular restaurants, according to a study from the US Department of Agriculture.

Fast food was found to be more energy dense compared to food from a regular restaurant even though portion size was smaller. And people who ate at regular restaurants and had a larger portion of food tended to eat less the rest of the day as compared to the fast food patrons. This is most likely due to the difference in energy density, so in the end results in fast food leading to more calories throughout the day.