Warning: Beware Of The Veggie Options

Vegetarians are super healthy, right? They don’t eat red meat, processed meat, fried chicken, greasy burgers or bacon that’s dripping in fat. They never eat questionable kebab meat after one too many down the pub and they’re not covering their pizzas in slimy pepperoni.

But vegetarianism isn’t all salad and tomato pasta. Veggies still have a lot of unhealthy fast food options open to them. There’s no meat in a portion of cheesy chips with garlic mayo, there’s no meat on a greasy margherita pizza and there’s no meat in a veggie burger on a bun with a side of chips and garlic bread. There might not be any meat, but there are still a fair few calories.

Paul Salter, a registered dietician, recently pointed out to the Mail Online that veggie options can in fact be a lot more calorific, contain much more salt and just generally be much unhealthier choices than meat-based meals, especially at fast food outlets.

via GIPHY

Some restaurants – if you can call a fast food joint a restaurant – pack their veggie dishes full of salt and cover them in fat-laden sauces to add more flavour, thinking this is what is needed to replace the taste of the meat.

Take Shake Shack, for example. Its vegetarian option is a mushroom burger, which contains 490 calories. That might not sound too bad, but it’s actually almost 100 calories more than Shake Shack’s hamburger. How can a mushroom contain so many more calories than a red meat-based patty? We’re not too sure, but veggies aren’t looking healthier than meat eaters now, are they?

Over at Chipotle, it can be as many as 620 calories for a veggie burrito bowl with sour cream – for something that’s essentially just rice and veg with a bit of sauce and spice, that sounds like rather a lot of calories to us.

via GIPHY

It’s a similar story at Subway too, with the veggie patty coming in at 379 calories, somehow containing 28 more calories than the steak and cheese sub, which is packed with red meat.

But we’re not trying to put people off going veggie or never grabbing something on the go again, there are actually plenty of decent vegetarian options, if you choose wisely. At Subway, the salad bowls are super healthy, and you don’t need to have any meat in there at all, with just a few extra calories from a drizzle of tasty dressing.

And at good old McDonald’s, the Veggie Deluxe Burger has a pretty reasonable 400 calories, while the mighty and meaty Big Mac has 508. Who would’ve thunk MaccyD’s would offer one of the best options?!

via GIPHY

Of course, preparing vegetarian alternatives for yourself is the best way to make sure it’s a healthier lifestyle, as you don’t need to be adding any extra salt or fatty dressings. Instead, use herbs and spices to get that extra flavour, such as in these spicy vegan chickpea patties from Lazy Cat Kitchen. Or make your own nuggets from chunks of tofu and cook them in your Tefal ActiFry, which requires only the tiniest amount of oil, making these a lovely healthy option with some ActiFry chips and your fave sauce.

Remember that if you’re cutting out meat, you need to make sure you’re getting your iron from somewhere else (broccoli and spinach are good options) and it won’t automatically make you healthier if you’re suddenly living off cheesy chips.