There are some negative Health Effects of Fast Food so you need to be careful

Dr Hector Perera London

Takeaways are often cheap, convenient and satisfying but, unfortunately, they’re not always very healthy. Some takeaway meals can push you over your recommended daily maximum amount of salt and fat, which can lead to a variety of health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes. Takeaway food are plenty but which one to choose?
A meal cooked and bought at a shop or restaurant but taken somewhere else, often home, to be eaten, or the shop or restaurant itself. A lot of takeaway food is perfectly safe for people with coeliac. However, you do need to be careful what you order and be aware of the risk of cross contamination in some takeaway restaurants. Britain will spend almost £8bn a year on takeaways by the end of the decade as a surge in smartphone usage and time-pressed households cooking fewer meals boosts the country’s predilection for takeaway food.

Expenditure on pizza, curry and Chinese food is expected to grow by 28% during this decade to £7.6bn a year according to figures from Euromonitor International. Forget hunting around for paper menus. There are plenty of instantly access a wide array of local favourites, whether you’re after Brighton’s best fish & chips or a full English breakfast in Liverpool. Browse peer-reviewed takeaway menus and filter by opening times, accepted payment methods, deals and discounts. With online payment and convenient re-ordering. Some on line takeaway even got you covered for a wine or beer to go with it. I think even in Sri Lanka, mainly in Colombo city area there are plenty of home delivering takeaways. No wonder some housewives are not bothered to cook at home. Whether they are healthy and clean is your choice, food on the table in no time. Why bother in smoky, dusty and hot kitchens, just pick up the phone then meals come on wheels as fast as they could, what a change!

Fish and chips

There are lots of ways to make your trip to the chippy a healthier one. Have a portion of baked beans or mushy peas with your fish and chips. Watch out for other foods that are high in fat, such as pies and sausages.

The thicker the chips the better, because they absorb less fat. Try to have a smaller portion or share your chips. Ask for your fish and chips without salt – if you want some salt, then add a small amount yourself.

Italian

If you’re having pizza, choose lower-fat toppings, such as vegetables, ham, fish and prawns. You could ask for some extra veg on your pizza to bump up your daily fruit and veg portions. But if you don’t want to increase the saturated fat content and number of calories in your meal, don’t ask for extra cheese.

With pasta dishes, if you want a lower-fat option go for a sauce that’s based on tomatoes or vegetables, rather than cream.

Try to avoid: large deep-pan pizzas, pizzas with a cheese-stuffed crust, triple cheese with pepperoni pizzas, creamy pasta sauces and garlic bread.

Healthier options: small or medium pizzas with a thin base and vegetable or lean meat topping, tomato-based pasta sauces, bruschetta.

Chinese

Anything that’s battered or marked as “crispy” on the menu means it’s deep-fried. Watch out for starters such as prawn crackers and spring rolls, because these are generally deep-fried. Anything in batter will be high in fat. Sweet and sour pork is usually battered.
Try to avoid: sweet and sour battered pork balls with special or egg-fried rice, prawn toast, spring rolls. Healthier options: crab and corn soup, steamed dumplings, steamed vegetables and plain boiled rice, steamed fish, chicken chop suey, Szechuan prawns.

Thai

Try to stick to stir-fried dishes or steamed dishes containing chicken, fish or vegetables instead of curries. Thai curries, such as the popular green and red curries, contain coconut milk, which is high in saturated fat. If you choose a curry, try not to eat all the sauce. Have some steamed rice with your meal instead of egg-fried rice.

Indian

Try to avoid anything that’s creamy or deep-fried. To reduce the amount of fat in your meal, choose dishes with tomato-based sauces, such as tandoori and madras, plain rice or chapatti. Also choose plenty of vegetables, including lentil side dishes (known as dhal).

Kebab and burgers

Doner kebabs can be high in fat. For a healthier option, go for a shish kebab, which is a skewer with whole cuts of meat or fish and usually grilled.

If you’re having a burger, avoid breaded or battered chicken or fish patties, extra cheese, bacon strips and high-fat sauces, such as mayonnaise. Instead, go for a regular, single-patty hamburger without mayonnaise or cheese and have with extra salad.

Try to avoid: large doner kebab with mayonnaise and no salad, burgers with cheese and mayonnaise, thin-cut chips, chicken or fish patties deep-fried in batter. Healthier options: shish kebab with pitta bread and salad, grilled burgers made from lean fish or meat (beef or whole chicken breast) and without cheese and mayonnaise.

Rice & Curry or Rice ‘N’ Curry

I read some reviews about rice and curry in some places in Sri Lanka and this is what they wrote. Age old food still going strong!

This is my go to place when it comes to having lunch on a weekday since this place is situated quite closely to my workplace. For Rs. 200/- you can chose between anything from Fried Chicken, curry chicken, fried fish, curry fish , prawns or cuttlefish and that variety is a major reason when I happen to visit the place quite often. Had lunch on number of occasions and each time I was content with the food. For breakfast they do offer a pasta with chicken and that was fine by normal standards as well but nothing ravishing keep in mind! Service gets a bit late during rush hours but it’s worth the wait compared to what you get at all the other places around here. I have always taken away and never dined in house but there’s space for about ten people to dine in. Would visit again when I need to have a quick lunch on a working day.

Visited the restaurant last week along with family on our vacation. Went with great expectations and the place was laid out like a village set up, rustic seating ,waiters in traditional clothes and complete with a rooster and hen s adding to the ambiance.

Well the atmosphere was great and we opted for the buffet which was laid out on earthenware dished and there were 3 counters one for salads, fresh fruits and desserts, one counter called the toddy shop which had a disinterested lady manning it which served some fried fish and prepared omelettes lying in open dishes which were being sampled by enthusiastic flies yes by flies. We asked her to prepare fresh ones but she merely pointed to the stale ones so I did not pick up any. The main course counter had a lot of dishes both non vegetarian and vegetarian. The NV dishes included Negombo Pork Curry, Chicken curry, dried fish curry, mutton curry, fish head curry (which I quite enjoyed) and the pick of the lot Cuttle fish curry.

There was Plain steamed rice, turmeric rice and red rice but no sight of hoppers or string hoppers. Once you are on holiday in Sri Lanka then you will find out there are far too many takeaway places or ready to eat places in any town. It is your choice to find which ones are better than the others. Your comments are welcomed perera6@hotmail.co.uk