How Often Should You Eat Out?
Q: I love eating out. LOVE IT!!! I’m down to do it frequently with my girlfriends throughout the week and can’t possibly understand the people who think it’s something to save only for special occasions. But maybe I’m wrong here. So how often should you eat out? Should I stop going to restaurants and other places as much? Wait, what did you think I was talking about?!?! Ewwwwwwww, you’re gross!!! I’m strictly dickly, buddy!
A: According to most polls about sexual acts, lesbian women give and receive more oral sex than their straight counterparts. So sorry for being aware of that fact and then imagining you, a woman, with your face buried deep between the legs of another woman when you said that you loved getting together with your girls and eating out on the regular. Yeah, my apologies for being a man, toots!1For the people who aren’t prudes and want to know about cunnilingus, the regularity to which it should be performed is a personal choice between you and your partner that depends on a variety of factors, such as the quality of your relationship, how important oral sex is to each individual, and your level of enjoyment for giving it and your partner’s for receiving it, for example. As a guide though, most polls suggest that the majority of women enjoy receiving oral sex a couple times per week or a few times per month. The percentage of women who want to be eaten out every day is small, as is the number who are satisfied with getting their taco munched only every couple of months.
Anyway, the average American eats restaurant food 5 times a week. Whether that frequency of sit-down meals, drive-thru orders, and food deliveries is something you should continue comes down to things like your time-constraints and budget. That said, if you’re concerned about stupid shit like your health and weight, then you may not want to eat as much restaurant food on a regular basis.
Compared to food that’s prepared at home, restaurant food is generally high in sodium, sugar, saturated fat, and refined grains and low in fiber and micronutrients like calcium and iron. Additionally, the calories in restaurant food are also higher than home-cooked meals because the portion sizes tend to be bigger. It’s due to this nutritional profile that studies have routinely found that the more often that people dine out, the more likely they are to gain weight and develop the conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.2In fact, research has found a relationship between dining out often and a shortened lifespan. In a study of 35000 adults over a 15-year period, researchers looked at death records and observed that those who ate out two or more times a day had a higher incidence of cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality, and early death from all causes than those who ate out less than one meal a week. It should be noted that this data only demonstrates an association between mortality and restaurant frequency — not a direct link, as other factors may contribute to the disparity, such as toxic chemicals like phthalates that are in plastic products commonly used by restaurants to pack orders and the health burdens of a busy, stressful lifestyle that might make someone more likely to turn to restaurant food for convenience.
While eating out has risks far greater than damage to your wallet, it doesn’t mean that you have to give it up completely. Limiting restaurant food to a once a week occurrence and splurging isn’t going to do much harm if you live an overall healthy lifestyle. If, however, you eat out multiple times per week and don’t intend on changing that frequency, then it’d be to your benefit to be mindful of the ingredients and portions of everything you order so you can mitigate the potential effects that come with increased avoidance of your own cooking.
Now, does anyone else have a fitness or nutrition question of their own that they want to ask?
Glossary: calories, fitness, nutrition
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