Pure maple syrup, tapped from the tree, offers one of the best sources of sweetness—all-natural, no preservatives added. The “maple” syrup one finds sitting on the tables at restaurants, however, should be avoided. Ingredients include high fructose corn syrup and caramel coloring. If that sounds harmless enough, it’s not.
Caramel coloring is a possible source of carcinogen 4MEI, which forms during manufacturing. And what’s so wrong with high fructose corn syrup? It can cause liver damage. Specifically, consuming too much of this syrup increases fat in the liver, resulting in fatty liver disease.
Breakfast Should Not Be the Unhealthiest Meal of the Day
Pancakes and eggs, separately, are not an entirely unhealthy breakfast choice. It is the bacon, sausage, syrup, cheese, and butter that pack on the fat and calories. On average, we should consume about 300 to 400 calories at breakfast.
Going out to eat for breakfast makes that goal literally impossible. The “classic skillet” breakfast at IHOP, for example, has 1,800 calories! It’s eggs, potatoes, pancakes, and a side of bacon or sausage. And then we pour syrup over it. It’s like consuming the entire day’s calories first thing in the morning.
Buffalo Chicken Salad
No one chooses something from the salad menu expecting to consume 1,000 calories. But that is exactly what you get when you order the Boneless Buffalo Chicken Salad at Chili's. This salad contains 970 calories and 66 grams of fat.
A person who orders a salad because they are watching their weight is not looking for a meal that contains half a day’s calories.
Escolar
Avoid this fish like the plague. It causes such severe gastrointestinal mayhem that both Italy and Japan have banned the sale of it. Sometimes called butterfish, walu, and oilfish, this relatively novel tuna variety has a rich buttery texture, making it more and more commonly found on restaurant menus. With many fish species susceptible to overfishing, escolar is widely available.
The attribute that gives this fish its buttery flakes is the same that causes problems. It contains esters called “gempylotoxin,” and these oils can trigger diarrhea—but not just any diarrhea. The Kitchn, prefaced with an apology, says, it “causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea.” The good news is that escolar is nontoxic, but it has caused plenty of people a very messy and humiliating experience. It is advised that one consumes six ounces or less.
Salads Are Only Good for You Until They’re Not
Not only are salads overpriced, but the pile of leafy greens that are magnificently heaped upon your plate may also be harboring bacteria. In 2018 and 2019, over 370 people were sickened by romaine contaminated with E. coli.
Food safety expert Ben Chapman, a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University told Consumer Reports, “There are many opportunities along the continuum—from seed all the way to a consumer’s plate—for greens to become contaminated.” And, unfortunately, it is restaurants where proper washing of the greens may not be as thorough as expected.