Cut The Fat Eating Healthy In The Air
(May 2000)
Welcome aboard Fat Air, where the sky is high, and the
fat and calorie counts are too! It's amazing that the miniscule
portions on your airline food tray can often be more fattening than
a Big Mac™, fries, and a cola from McDonalds©! Scary! So what can
you do about it?
eFit, the online diet and fitness network, is
fighting back and helping to educate travelers. After studying menus
from fifteen different airlines, eFit's nutritionists estimate that
the average airline coach meal contains approximately 1,054
calories! If you are keeping score, that's twenty-four more
calories than the aforementioned McDonald’s© meal.
However, eFit isn't out to bash airline food, which is
already the proverbial favorite topic of airline jokes. Instead,
their goal is to make airline travelers think twice before accepting
the flight attendant's offer of chicken or beef. With an estimated
640 million people flying every year, the effect of such meals on
the health of travelers is a legitimate concern. Most airlines work
very hard on their meal planning, often spending millions of dollars
to make the right selections. Despite this, however, most airlines
fail miserably with respect to the high calorie, fat, and sodium
levels that exist in their in-flight meals.
As a former flight attendant, I am not a big fan of
airline food. The only time I became a big fan, literally,
was when I worked business class on international flights. I ended
up gaining fifteen pounds in one year! Therefore, this study and its
findings do not surprise me. I was only surprised that it took so
long.
So, how did this survey come into being? eFit
President and CEO Charles Platkin was on a long flight when he
started wondering about the calories, fat, and sodium in the food he
was being served. Platkin and his nutritionist then set out to
analyze what each airline serves in the skies. eFit asked fifteen
airlines for their coach and first-class dinner menus, recipes, and
nutritional breakdowns. Sadly, the airlines were not too cooperative
with the survey, and only three airlines sent in the requested
nutritional breakdowns.
However, that didn't stop eFit from completing the
study. Instead, they calculated the breakdowns themselves, working
from the airlines' in-flight menus, average recommended portion
sizes, and standard nutritional measures of fat, sodium, sugars, and
calories.
So how did the airlines do? By far the most fattening
skies belong to Midwest Express. A sample dinner of four baby-back
ribs with barbecue sauce, green beans, rice, tomato and spinach
pasta, cornbread, and lemon pie topped the charts at 1,643 calories
and 91 grams of fat. On the other hand, the svelte skies belong to
British
Airways, where the fruit yogurt, lamb medallions in mint jus,
new potatoes, and fresh fruit dinner measured in with 534 calories
and 21 grams of fat.
However, according to American Airlines' executive chef David Colella,
"passengers want comfort food when they fly." He says that when
American Airlines decided to change a dessert from a brownie to an
apple, customers demanded the brownie back. So, if the majority of
people want the fattening food, where does that leave the
health-conscious traveler? I can give you the answer in two simple
words: Special Meal.
I order a special meal, usually a fruit plate, every
time I fly. Often I end up being the envy of most passengers around
me. On my last United flight, people asked me how I got a special
meal. Do you have to be special to get a special meal? No, and the
best part of special meals is that you may order one at no
additional cost. Surprisingly, most people don't take advantage of
this great deal. Most airlines offer special meals in many
categories, such as low-calorie, low-fat, low-sodium, vegetarian,
kosher, diabetic, Hindu, children's, and other restricted-diet
options. If you would like a special meal on your next flight you
need only to call the airline at least 24 hours in advance to
request it.
eFit offers this additional advice to health-concious
flyers:
Eat before you board if your flight time is expected to be four
hours or less.
If you have not ordered a special meal, pick the offered one
that sounds less fattening. Select roasted, baked,
grilled, or steamed, over sautéed,
fried, stir-fried, Alfredo, or creamy.
Do not eat everything on your tray.
Bring your own food on board, like vegetables, pretzels,
oatmeal, or instant soup. Flight attendants can supply any needed
hot water.
For more great tips and advice, visit eFit's travel
section at http://www.efit.com/travel.
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