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Why is Nandos so overrated?

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It tastes really nice, I've tried to make my own Nandos at home but its not that easy really. It never tastes like true Nandos, I like the restaurant as well and the atmosphere of it.
Original post by pane123
So there is no combination of chicken/sides that you would call 'reasonably healthy'?



Original post by Dr Alcoholic
No.

Perhaps you and I have differing views on what is considered healthy, but certainly in my opinion it is in no way shape or form healthy. Certainly you can have it part of a healthy diet, but I would consider nandos indulgence not health food.

I see you're a fellow scot, I really hope your nutritional values aren't based on the same reasoning as many other scots. There's a reason why our nation is dying of obesity and heart problems. Perhaps our views on what is and isn't healthy is the cause.


http://nandos.co.uk/restaurantmenu/mains

1/2 chicken + garlic bread + mixed leaf salad = 969 cals, 3.3g sugar, 3.4g salt.

Definitely what I'd call reasonably healthy.
Meh... It's OK for convenience food. Way better than subway or macdonalds. Personally I don't get the hype but it's not terrible.
Original post by manchesterunited15
http://nandos.co.uk/restaurantmenu/mains

1/2 chicken + garlic bread + mixed leaf salad = 969 cals, 3.3g sugar, 3.4g salt.

Definitely what I'd call reasonably healthy.



I'm guessing you're being sarcastic.
Celebrity endorsed. Ed Sheeran and Example made a song dedicated to it
Original post by Dr Alcoholic
I'm guessing you're being sarcastic.


pls inform me why that is not reasonably healthy, o mighty health god
Original post by LordScumbag
I've gotta say, I do love Frankie and Benny's... I dunno, something about it just makes me happy. :biggrin:


It's really pretentious and annoying. The whole 'story' is fake.

It was actually founded in Leicester in 1995.

https://www.thecaterer.com/business/companies/33945/restaurant-group-thel
When I hear "Nandos" all I can think of is burnt chicken...
Nando's the Yo! Sushi! of chicken.
Original post by Autistic Merit
It's really pretentious and annoying. The whole 'story' is fake.

It was actually founded in Leicester in 1995.

https://www.thecaterer.com/business/companies/33945/restaurant-group-thel


Aww. That's actually really sad. I think the thing is, I just associate it with being with my friends - we have a pretty limited area of where we can eat due to our area, so countless birthdays have been spent either at Pizza Hut or Frankie and Benny's, so I think I've just grown attached to it. I never really got a pretentious vibe, though. I never bothered with the 'story', but didn't assume it was a lie.
Original post by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Nando's the Yo! Sushi! of chicken.


Oh come on now, Yo sushi is fab. :tongue:
Original post by manchesterunited15
pls inform me why that is not reasonably healthy, o mighty health god



In one meal you are eating well over half of your daily recommended intake of salt. So based on one aspect of this meal it is already unhealthy.

I'm actually baffled that people think this is considered "healthy". No ****ing wonder heart disease is the biggest killer in the uk. Seems like people don't have a clue!


A healthy meal is one that can be eaten all of the time. If are eating this plus other meals everyday, simply based on the salt levels you are going to be eating well above you're recommended daily intake of salt and are dramatically raising the prospects of getting high blood pressure amongst other things.

I mean seriously, how can you look at that and see 3.4 grams of slat and think, "yes that is healthy". WTF!
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by G8D
Black cards ensure celebrity endorsement.


I know Howard Donald (from Take That) just got one over twitter I think.
Original post by Dr Alcoholic
In one meal you are eating well over half of your daily recommended intake of salt. So based on one aspect of this meal it is already unhealthy.

I'm actually baffled that people think this is considered "healthy". No ****ing wonder heart disease is the biggest killer in the uk. Seems like people don't have a clue!


A healthy meal is one that can be eaten all of the time. If are eating this plus other meals everyday, simply based on the salt levels you are going to be eating well above you're recommended daily intake of salt and are dramatically raising the prospects of getting high blood pressure amongst other things.

I mean seriously, how can you look at that and see 3.4 grams of slat and think, "yes that is healthy". WTF!



Tbh before I started obsessively caring about nutrition I would have probably thought 'Oh, it's only salt'. I think people are just misinformed, haha.
Original post by Dr Alcoholic
In one meal you are eating well over half of your daily recommended intake of salt. So based on one aspect of this meal it is already unhealthy.

I'm actually baffled that people think this is considered "healthy". No ****ing wonder heart disease is the biggest killer in the uk. Seems like people don't have a clue!


A healthy meal is one that can be eaten all of the time. If are eating this plus other meals everyday, simply based on the salt levels you are going to be eating well above you're recommended daily intake of salt and are dramatically raising the prospects of getting high blood pressure amongst other things.

I mean seriously, how can you look at that and see 3.4 grams of slat and think, "yes that is healthy". WTF!


"Well over half", I'd say slightly.
In almost all people's cases, the evening meal will be the biggest. People won't eat much salt in their breakfast, and lunch will also contain less than dinner. It really wouldn't take much, if any, adapting for someone to fit that meal into the average day.

If someone is particularly concerned about salt, they can drop the garlic bread (-1g) or swap it for luso beans (-0.5g).

I'm actually baffled that people think this is considered "healthy". No ****ing wonder heart disease is the biggest killer in the uk. Seems like people don't have a clue!


The main reason heart disease is the biggest killer is due to obesity, ie. calories, which this meal has under 1000 of. Less than 40% of a man's recommended calories in his dinner is not bad at all.
Original post by manchesterunited15
"Well over half", I'd say slightly.
In almost all people's cases, the evening meal will be the biggest. People won't eat much salt in their breakfast, and lunch will also contain less than dinner. It really wouldn't take much, if any, adapting for someone to fit that meal into the average day.

If someone is particularly concerned about salt, they can drop the garlic bread (-1g) or swap it for luso beans (-0.5g).



The main reason heart disease is the biggest killer is due to obesity, ie. calories, which this meal has under 1000 of. Less than 40% of a man's recommended calories in his dinner is not bad at all.



You are still trying to prove a negative point here. Yes eating a nandos everyday with the high amounts of salt (as well as any other negative nutritional values of it) is ok if all your other meals are healthy. But that doesn't make nandos healthy. That just means in order to eat a nandos you are compensating the rest of your nutritional intake with healthy food to eat the unhealthy nandos, thus overall your diet is healthy.

So again, nandos is not healthy. It can be part of a healthy diet, but the meal itself is not a healthy one.

In england 32% of men have high bloods pressure. I would argue that having the mentality that nandos is healthy is one of the major causes of this.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by Dr Alcoholic
You are still trying to prove a negative point here. Yes eating a nandos everyday with the high amounts of salt (as well as any other negative nutritional values of it) is ok if all your other meals are healthy. But that doesn't make nandos healthy. That just means in order to eat a nandos you are compensating the rest of your nutritional intake with healthy food to eat the unhealthy nandos, thus overall your diet is healthy.

So again, nandos is not healthy. It can be part of a healthy diet, but the meal itself is not a healthy one.

In england 32% of men have high bloods pressure. I would argue that having the mentality that nandos is healthy is one of the major causes of this.


By that logic nothing is healthy lol. You ate an apple? That's 25% of your daily sugar in just a snack! You're never going to get exactly the required nutrients in every meal. Lots of meals are obviously healthy yet if you eat them every day for lunch and dinner you're going to be missing out on loads of micronutrients.

You replied to "So there is no combination of chicken/sides that you would call 'reasonably healthy'?" with "No."

So forget the garlic bread. We're left with the 1/2 chicken and the salad containing just 2.4 grams of salt or 40% of your RDA. Completely fine. Or swap the half chicken for a fillet burger, just 2g, or the chicken wings, 1.8g. Point is it's perfectly possible to have a nandos meal that doesn't have an unhealthy amount of sodium.
(edited 9 years ago)
The chicken is overrated but I still like it. Decent place but it's all about Chinese buffet ooo yeah
Original post by TolerantBeing
I know I just don't see why they can't use free range chickens, they are a fair bit more expensive than the likes of KFC.

It's called profit, that's what happens with the capitalist system. It's like doctors in america, they ain't gonna give you the truth they'll happily lie to makes a few grand out of you. I don't think they care what they feed their customers as long as they get their money.
Original post by manchesterunited15
By that logic nothing is healthy lol. You ate an apple? That's 25% of your daily sugar in just a snack! You're never going to get exactly the required nutrients in every meal. Lots of meals are obviously healthy yet if you eat them every day for lunch and dinner you're going to be missing out on loads of micronutrients.

You replied to "So there is no combination of chicken/sides that you would call 'reasonably healthy'?" with "No."

So forget the garlic bread. We're left with the 1/2 chicken and the salad containing just 2.4 grams of salt or 40% of your RDA. Completely fine.



Well funnily enough it is now recommended that people moderate their fruit intake and/or eat more vegies instead. Because of the amount of sugar in it, as well as the fact to much acidic and sugary fruit can cause tooth problems.

The difference is, eating too much sugar can be very bad for your health, however that's due to an indirect negative of sugar. I.e. if you don't burn the energy you'll get fat and being overweight causes health issues. There is a recommended intake for of sugar for the average person, however this is just a guide based on the average activity levels of the uk. For sugar and calories/energy in general you can eat as much as you like providing you burn the excess energy, hence why athletes are able to eat double the recommended energy intake for the uk and stay healthy.

Salt on the other hand is a direct health issue as too much salt causes a multitude of health issues, the worst being a direct cause of high blood pressure. Secondly unlike sugar/energy intake you can't counter the negatives with exercise. Exercise can lower blood pressure, but that's in conjunction with lowering your sodium intake (amongst other things). It doesn't matter how active and healthy you are, if you eat too much salt, you will suffer the consequences.

Like I said if you eat nandos everyday but still stick within your daily intake of salt by keeping all other meals low in salt or indeed as you suggest moderate the size of your nandos meal, you'll stay healthy, but that doesn't make nandos healthy.

A healthy meal would literally consist of plain veggies, lean meat (preferably white meat or fish) with very little salt to season it. And complex carbs such as sweet potato, quinoa or some form of unprocessed grain or beans. With this you could get all the nutrition and energy you need with very little unhealthy fat, salt and sugar. It's boring but it's healthy. That's why athletes mainly stick to a diet like this, because with this the can consume the extra calories they need without significantly increasing the salt, unhealthy fat and refined sugar intake.

If they tried to get the same calories from a diet of nandos, they'd soon start to suffer health problems.

The less moderation a meal needs, the healthier it is. Unfortunately nandos does need to be moderated to be able to eat regularly but still stay healthy overall.
(edited 9 years ago)

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