How to order food at a restaurant so your gut will thank you

Tips for how to avoid vegetable/seed oils, fillers, and other additives when going out

The Fat:
Tell the waiter you have a chronic illness and that you must avoid vegetable oils
Ask for your food to be cooked in REAL butter (if you simply ask for butter, they may use margarine)
BYOB – bring your own BUTTER (or ghee)
When ordering bacon, be sure to ask how it’s being prepared (some restaurants deep fry their bacon in vegetable oil)

The Salt:
Bring your own Redmond’s real salt. We use pocket salt shakers that my brother-in-law printed for us using his 3-D printer. You can find pocket shakers for sale on Redmond’s website: real salt pocket shaker or on Amazon: Coghlan’s backpacker’s S&P shaker. (I am not an affiliate of either companies).

The Meat:
I have had more luck ordering full portions of meat (such as steak rather than ground or pre-chopped meat) since the prepped meat may have preservatives and other additives to increase shelf-life and enhance flavor. For example, we went to the restaurant Kume in Topsham for my brother-in-law’s birthday and my mom (on a strict carnivore diet) ordered a side of steak and instructed them to cook it in the butter we provided, and to not add any spices. However, the steak was pre-chopped and my mom had bowel issues that night. Hence, we suspect that Kume has additives in their meat. Luckily, there are a few fast-food chains that promise to serve only 100% USDA beef in their burgers. So, if you want to grab a quick snack, hop on over to your local McDonald’s or Wendy’s for a burger patty.

All the extras:
Order your meal without the carbs (bun, potatoes, etc).
Instead of fries, ask for a side of bacon.
Cheese: be sure to ask what kind of cheese they use in your meal. Beware that “American cheese” is NOT real cheese. It’s made up of hydrogenated oils. At our local breakfast joint, Annabella’s in Richmond, my husband tends to order the special. Last week, the special came with cheese, so my amazing mom spoke up and asked what kind of cheese – it was a mix of cheddar and American, so my mom made sure his order came only with the cheddar.
Make sure your meat does not come with any sauce, as most sauces contain soy or added sugars. Ketchup has sugar and mayo is usually soy-based. If you want to bring your own mayo, you can make a delicious mayo with egg yolks and lard, duck fat, or butter. Fortunately mustard doesn’t usually have as many additives, but many carnivores abide by no extra spices other than salt. If you can’t stand the sight of veggies, remember to ask for the patty ONLY. I always say “no bun” and my burger still shows up with a piece of lettuce and a tomato slice.

It’s really hard to eat clean when going out.