Host: Is fast food or takeout food necessarily bad?

Dr. Diana Zuckerman: Fast food and takeout food are not necessarily bad for you. There are foods that are quite healthy that you can buy in restaurants or in fast food establishments, but a lot of that food is very high in salt, very high in fat, very high in calories. A part of what makes these foods tastes so good are the things in them that aren't so healthy. So you shouldn't assume that a restaurant meal is healthier than a fast food meal, not necessarily true and you should also again, read the labels because you are liable to find out that the salad has more calories than the big Mac or in fact, they might both have the same amount of calories and you would rather have the big Mac. So look to see a how much fat, how much salt, how much calories, those are really the three big things to be looking at and then use your judgment. For most things it's okay to have carryout our fast food in moderation. We get in trouble when we start doing it three times a week and of course, there are families that are doing it more than three times a week. But it's fine to occasionally go to a fast food restaurant or occasionally takeout carryout from a fast food restaurant, but it is -- carryout is expensive and one of the problems when you buy a food that's prepared by somebody else is that you don't always know what's in it and by that I mean, fat and calories. If you are making your own meals you have a pretty good idea of what's in it, but you can buy food at a restaurant either a carryout or to eat there that might taste delicious and you might think it's quite healthy when in fact, it might have a lot of sugar or fat or salt or something else that you are not really aware of.