Dr Oz: Restaurant Menu Tricks + How To Eat Healthy When Dining Out

Dr Oz: Restaurant Menu Deceit

Dr. Oz explained that the menu at restaurants is actually designed to make you eat more. Karen Page, author of Dining Out, joined Dr. Oz to share how menus trick us. She said there’s actually an entire industry based on menu engineering and consumer psychology, that restaurants use in order to get you to order certain things on the menu. She said you may walk in thinking you’re going to order a salad, but then you find yourself ordering something really unhealthy.

Dr. Oz shared ways that menus may mislead us into eating more, despite our best intentions. The first thing you should be aware of is the upper right hand corner, which are the “featured items.” The problem with that area is that it tends to be the first place your eyes will go and the last place you’ll find healthy items. Karen suggested scanning the entire menu, rather than going straight for where your eyes fall first.

Dr. Oz said you then want to avoid the prix fixe area and “bundles.” Karen said fast-food restaurants have been doing it for years, giving you a sandwich and fries together. She said a lot of customers at restaurants now think that going for the bundle will save them money, by allowing them to order a couple items for the price of one. In reality, you tend to order more food than you would otherwise. Karen suggested creating your own bundle and if you’re still hungry, order something else.

Dr Oz: How Restaurant Menus Trick You

Dr. Oz then said you’re often being duped by the bold font or the chef’s special. Karen said you may see colors, or different fonts, or a box, trying to draw your attention to certain options. Karen said especially if you see the color red, you should be aware that the color is used to stimulate your appetite.

Dr. Oz also shared that sometimes on menus, descriptive language can be a bit misleading. Karen said menu engineers can come up with words that are either sentimental or sensory, to get you to order certain dishes. “Mom’s secret recipe” or “Maryland style crab cake” makes you think it’s special that you can’t get anywhere else. She also suggested looking out for the word “buttery” because that word alone can add 100 calories to your meal on average. Words like crispy or crunchy usually indicate the dish is deep fried.

Dr Oz: Eat Healthy When Dining Out

So how do you order healthiest on a menu? Order from the middle of the menu. Karen said to look at the middle of the menu for salads and vegetable laden dishes. She said that any top chef will tell you that a dish is driven by the vegetables and herbs in the dish, which are what give it its flavor. Not only will it be healthy, but it will be incredibly flavorful.

Dr. Oz and Karen said it’s the opposite of shopping in the grocery. When it comes to the grocery you should stay on the outside, whereas when looking at a menu, you should focus on the middle.