Looking for Healthy Food to Eat at a Fast Food Chain?

Perhaps it is the Super-Size Me effect. When you go to any one of the 14,000-plus McDonald's locations across the country, more and more, you begin to notice that they offer healthy food to eat in addition to their usually sinful offerings. Your Happy Meals can come with low-fat milk or fruit juice, and not a Coke; you can get apple dippers instead of french fries. And even if your child does choose those fried potato strips instead of the apple dippers, McDonald's fries them in canola oil. Their salads with Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette and their  low-calorie Egg McMuffin are all great alternatives to their regular delicious, but unhealthy menu offerings. McDonald's isn't the only fast food chain offering healthy food to eat. There are dozens of others across the country.

Consider Einstein Bros., the bagel-serving chain that works out of 700 locations around the country. What exactly is healthy about a bagel, with its butter and high levels of carbohydrates, you ask? At Einstein's you can opt for reduced-fat peanut butter or hummus. You also get bagels that are made out of whole-grain flour and you get to pick a vegan bagel if you want. If you really like bagels, there's a good chance you'll like baked goods, too. While bakeries usually aren't places you go to for healthy, responsible food (these are places where you can choose cheese danishes or sticky buns and have yourself a good sticky time), at one of the thousand or so Panera Bread locations across the country, you get to choose really healthy food to eat. Any sandwich you ask for at Panera Bread comes with a whole-grain option. Any item on the menu that you order can come in half-size as well as the regular full-size, and your chips can come baked, if you so choose. For children, you can order antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken, all-natural peanut butter and organic yogurt. If you are looking for healthy food to eat at a fast food chain, try their Turkey artichoke on focaccia bread. It's pretty great.

When it comes to finding healthy food to eat at a major fast food chain, Au Bon Pain can be hard to beat. Unlike the other healthy fast food chains in this article, Au Bon Pai, with its 300 locations across the country came into business with a specific intention of offering healthy fast food. Their sandwiches, entrées, salads and soups are all made of whole grains, organic meats and vegetables. If you're trying to control your weight, try their special Portions menu that (as you can probably tell), offers small-sized portions. The menu offers you 14 different nutritious items from fruit salads to regular salads - and they all weigh in at under 200 calories. And they provide computers at every outlet to help you calculate the nutritional value of what you order.  Except for their high sodium menus, Au Bon Pain can be a real winner.