Don’t Be Fooled By The High Street Hype!

Despite the fact that we'd happily eat pizza and chocolate every day for lunch, for the sake of our bodies we can't. So, the next best option is to pop into our high street locals and choose as best as we can. Unfortunately, some of these so-called 'healthy alternatives' may not be as healthy as they first seem...

PRET A MANGER

With a Pret A Manger located at almost every corner in London, this eatery is a hard one to miss. Whilst their marketing message is all about their fresh and natural food, it's still essential to pick your food wisely. Sandwiches, wraps, soups and granolas can be jam packed full of hidden salt, sugar, and saturated fats. The sandwich to watch out for is their 'Posh Cheddar and Pickle Baguette', which contains more calories than a McDonalds Big Mac! This baguette has a mammoth 621 calories and a shocking 2.7g of salt, 70g of white refined carbohydrates and 9.2g of saturated fat per portion. Despite this, Pret also stock some super healthy foods, which are freshly made each morning. They are completely up to date with food trends whilst also catering for those who are dairy, gluten or wheat free.
Photo: Pret a Manger
Pret have also made healthy snacking a whole lot easier. One of their best products so far must be their 'Pret Pots'. These little snack pots are less than 200 calories each and are full of fresh and healthy whole foods.

Lily's top choices at Pret:

- AVOCADO AND CRAYFISH SALAD
- PROTEIN PACKED SUPERBOWL
- BEETS, SQUASH AND FETA SUPERBOWL
- ASIAN TOFU SALAD
- TUNA NICOISE SALAD
- DAIRY-FREE 5 GRAIN PORRIDGE
- COCONUT YOGHURT
- CARROT JUICE
- HEALTHIEST SANDWICHES: AVOCADO AND EGG ON RYE, BEETROOT AND RADISH ON RYE OR CUCUMBER AND HUMMUS ON RYE

WASABI

Whilst Asian food has a reputation of being super healthy, this doesn’t necessarily always translate to Wasabi. Many of their sushi meals are overloaded with white refined rice, which can lead to blood sugar imbalances, fatigue, afternoon energy slumps and weight gain.
Photo: The Brit Abroad

Watch out for their sauces and white rice noodle soups, these are often laden with salt and sugar. Lastly, be wary around fried and tempura food which are full of unhealthy trans fats.

Lily’s top choices at Wasabi:

- EDAMAME
- SASHIMI
- MISO SOUP
- BROWN RICE SUSHI
- SALMON POKE SALAD POT
- BROWN RICE SUSHI: YASAI ROLL SET, CHUMAKI SET, HARMONY SET, RAINBOW SET, SALMON NIGIRI SET

POD

Pod’s ethos is all about fresh food from good ingredients. Despite this, it’s easy to pick a seemingly healthy meal, which in reality is not so healthy at all.
Watch out for their breakfast smoothie containing whopping 46g of sugar, which is the same amount found in a 100g bar of chocolate.
Photo: Pod