How processed is Nandos?

[semlf]

Hi everyone I hope you are all very well! 💖

I recently made the choice to cut down on processed food in my diet , I'm still slowly learning what's processed and what's not!

Eating takeaways is a hard one, but I also don't want to completely restrict myself!

Me and DP decided we'll go out for some dinner tonight anywhere i like and will work around my eating!

I'm really struggling to find somewhere! I was thinking Nando's and getting the following -

Chicken butterfly in wild herb sauce
Spicy rice
Corn on the cob
Coleslaw
Broccoli

This is around 1005 calories which is quite high but I can afford to eat that amount! I'm more concerned about the contents of the food!

What do you think?

Don't judge I'm still learning!

Or do you have any suggestions in what I could get?

No idea about Nandos but I quite like opting for tapas eating out, as small portions! I also go for veg/vegan options as generally healthier. Not sure if that helps much!

if this is coming from the UPF mindset then it is worth considering that the person who wrote the book makes it clear that it's not so much if X food fits in X box then it is or isn't UPF. It's more thinking about if that food encourages you to engage in overconsumption that you wouldn't otherwise. He uses the example of a shop bought microwave lasagne that technically doesn't meet any of the UPF criteria but causes the same urge to overeat. Equally he doesn't suggest to cut UPF out entirely and says they can, and should, make up a small amount of the food people eat.

Butterfly chicken is a whole muscle product coated in a sauce (likely to be processed to some extent), personally I would be concerned of 'nasties'.

Their rice is delicious, but clearly cooked in some sort of spice mix or paste - would need to look up the ingredients to understand how processed, but if it is additives that concerns you then their chips are probably a better call!

Corn on the cob + butter, nothing to see here.

Coleslaw is veg suspended in a mayo based sauce, this sauce is very likely to be ultra processed.

Broccoli, nothing to see here.

I think it's fine, but I'm of the mindset that some processing doesn't matter in the context of the wide picture - lean protein, carbs, fats, and varied vegetables, for me what a 'healthy' meal looks like. If you are really concerned about processed food then the coleslaw and rice are obvious choices to go in favor of chips and macho peas which fill the same slots with less processing. I find 4 sides at Nando's a bit too much and generally go for 2, but haven't had their coleslaw and broccoli and they might be smaller?

All chain restaurants will be serving food cooked in a centralised factory kitchen and sent to the branches for finishing. I very much doubt your branch of Nando is doing anything that resembles cooking because this is how chains maintain uniformity across thousands of branches. So I would say that if you want to go out for a nice meal avoiding UPF, choose a local restaurant or pub that has good food not supplied by Brakes that serves whole foods that have been prepared and cooked in their own kitchen by their own chefs. The key is to look fir a menu that isn't the same as every other eatery - if it makes a big thing about locally sourced products that's likely to be whole foods cooked n the "traditional fashion". Ie by a person in a kitchen with a knife and pan.

and if you really want Nando then just embrace that it's going to contain UPF but that is fine because at no point did he suggest cutting it out completely:)

I try to keep upf to a minimum at home but I can't control everything so i don't worry too much about it. Any decrease is a positive thing 😀

@SummaLuvin your macho peas have given me a very comical picture in my mind 🤣

How about fish and chips takeaway?

The broccoli and the corn on the cob is fine. They also do a tomato salad but I'm not sure what dressing that is in

Dd works at Nandos and they have to prepare a lot of stuff on site. So the chicken etc. Some stuff like sauces is sent in. Breads and wraps etc will be UPF, and sauces and I think the rice comes in a pouch so probably not great from a UPF point of view.

But unless you go to a pub where everything is home made and have something like steak, with a salad no dressing you are going to be eating UPF. And if the meat, salad, broccoli etc is fairly UPF free I wouldn't worry about sauces or dressings as most of the meal is UPF free.

Tbh we sometimes have one when we pick her up and it's been nice and I don't get that bloated, sticky, sickly feeling I get after a mcdonald's, KFC or even pizza hut so probably less UPF than those, especially if you chose wisely.

If it tastes nice it's probably ultra processed

That rather depends on your taste and what you are used to eating.

Well we've gone pretty low upf for this so far and while we all feel a lot more smug it's definitely less tasty. But we do have a number of dietary restrictions that mean we can't have a lot of foods (no nuts, dairy, egg, gluten, fish or soya) so this means that we were pretty reliant on upf for flavour and now everything we eat tastes dull.

If I were op I would just enjoy the food when out and about and try and stick to low upf when at home.

I don't think Nando's is your place to be if you are serious on non UPF.

It’s much better than other options if you’re avoiding UPF. I avoid UPF and personally I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s the majority of your diet that makes a difference. The chicken’s likely minimally processed, the broccoli and corn UPF free I imagine. The coleslaw and rice are likely UPF but they’ll be in controlled portions and it’s a high protein, balanced meal.

Jeez that sounds like a real challenge. Hats off to you for persevering

The chicken and veg will be fine.

Less sure on the rice, wraps etc though. The sauces presumably are also processed.

I had half chicken at Nandos on the weekend that had the peri peri sauce on, it tasted delicious at the time, but quite soon after I had the UPF bloated and sick feeling (which I accept may be my body as I have cut out a lot of UPF). The people I was eating with were fine! I knew that the sauces they used for marinades do have ultra processed ingredients so agree it is not the place to go if you want to avoid them.