Fitness Tips

A World of Eats

With our guide to ethnic cuisine, you'll eat well in any language

Americans love to eat out. In fact, research shows that most guys, especially those under 40, order restaurant food at least six times a week. If you exclude burger joints and cafeteria menus from that list, a lot of those meals end up coming from ethnic restaurants, places where you like the food but likely have no idea what's used to make it (bad news if you're trying to keep your diet in check).

You could combat the issue on your own — and learn everything there is to know about the fine art of making falafel, for example — or you could take the easy way and follow our easy-to-use guide to foreign food (just think of the time — and calories — you'll save in the takeout line).

CHINESE

What to avoid: Sweet-and-sour pork or chicken. Those dough boys are little more than tiny bits of meat encased in greasy gobs of fat and sugar. Moo shu pork and egg rolls are also alarmingly high in calories.

What to order: Anything sautèed, or in garlic or Szechwan sauce. Beef and broccoli and chicken chow mein are also clear winners. To make 'em better, order steamed veggies and mix them together.

GREEK

What to avoid: Stuffed grape leaves, spinach pie, and moussaka. Even a small serving of these dishes has more calories than your standard fast-food fare. Gyros aren't much better — most are drowned in mayonnaise-like sauce.

What to order: Meat and veggies on a skewer (souvlaki or kebabs, depending on the menu). Lamb or pork are decent choices, but in most cases chicken and steak are better (since the meat is grilled, most of the excess fat and calories drain away).

INDIAN

What to avoid: Foods with massala, pasanda, or korma in their name. All are types of fat-laden, super-spicy entrees. One serving of lamb pasanda, for example, contains nearly 1,000 calories, 56 grams of fat, and 4,800 mg of sodium.

What to order: Grilled or roasted dishes, such as tandoori chicken — marinated chicken cooked at a very high temperature. Or pick vegetable dishes, such as aloo gobi or vegetable curry, which are both high in fiber and vitamins.

ITALIAN

What to avoid: Fettuccine Alfredo, obviously. Say ciao, as well, to other calorie-dense chow like cheese ravioli, manicotti, and eggplant parmigiana. Sure, the last item is vegetable-based, but that eggplant soaks up oil and grease like a sponge, making it one of the very worst things on any Mom and Pop menu.

What to order: Spaghetti or ziti, with either marinara or clam sauce. To get your protein fix, order a meatball or two on the side, rather than "meat sauce," which has significantly less meat. If the portion is huge — covering more than half your plate — wrap it up and take it home for later.

JAPANESE

What to avoid: Turn up your chops to all batter-dipped and fried foods, especially tempura and spider rolls. High-fat foods, such as duck and eel, are also high-calorie no-nos.

What to order: Tuna, cucumber, and California sushi rolls all deliver the right nutritional punch. Plus, they come in set portions, so you don't have to worry about overeating.

MEXICAN

What to avoid: Chimichangas, enchiladas, or anything fried or drenched in sauce or cheese — which can more than triple your meal's calorie wallop. Also steer clear of jean-bursting sides, like refried beans, rice, or nacho with cheese.

What to order: Simple a la carte items made with whole ingredients, such as beans, chicken, steak, and salsa. Burritos, fajitas, and small taco salads are ideal picks. Choose guacamole over cheese or sour cream — it has more vitamins and heart-healthy fats.

America's Best Burgers

We searched high and low for the country's 10 most mouthwatering burgers

Even the fittest of the fit crave a good-quality burger every now and then. That's why we teamed up with the foodies behind the Zagat restaurant guides on this list of the country's best burgers. Consider it the ultimate burger lover's checklist.

1.) BURGER JOINT AT LE PARKER MERIDIEN
New York City — This is the place to get an old-school burger without the quirky toppings. All it takes is one bite of their smoky, slightly spicy burgers and you'll understand why these popular eats are one of the worst-kept secrets in town.

2.) IN-N-OUT BURGER
Los Angeles — The menu at this hot spot may appear simple, but that's because the best offerings are kept under wraps. Our suggestion: Order your burger "animal style" for a mustard-drenched patty served on a bun with pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and grilled onions.

3.) JAK'S GRILL
Seattle — Famous for its half-pounders, Jak's seasons its burgers with onions, garlic, black pepper, a mixture of soy and Worcestershire sauces, red-chili paste, and brown mustard while they grill.

4.) JOE'S CABLE CAR
San Francisco — Hand-trimmed choice cuts of chuck steak and rib eye are ground daily in the Cable Car's on-site, open-air butcher shop—where first-time visitors can even try the meat before placing an order.

5.) KINCAID'S HAMBURGERS
Fort Worth, Texas — Kincaid's has been flipping the same classic burger for the past 40 years: a delicious half pound of beef topped with mustard, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

6.) MR. BARTLEY'S GOURMET BURGERS
Boston — The favorite dish at Mr. Bartley's is dubbed the Viagra Burger. And with its handmade seven-inch patty, blue-cheese dressing, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes—plus a side of sweet-potato fries—it may be just as stimulating.

7.) PALENA CAFE
Washington, D.C. — Made with hamburger that's freshly ground in-house each day, the patty is topped with garlic mayo and a blend of truffles and Italian cheese, and it's served on a fluffy sesame-seed bun with pickles on the side.

8.) PETE MILLER'S SEAFOOD AND PRIME STEAK
Chicago — Pete's prides itself on serving burgers up any way you want them. Their most popular option: the Prime Burger, a giant one-pound slab of top-of-the-line beef topped with lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and grilled mushrooms.

9.) ROARING FORK
Scottsdale, Ariz. — Order up the Big-Ass Burger—12 ounces of ground beef marinated in green-chili sauce and then grilled and covered with bacon, Colby longhorn cheese, and a pile of caramelized onions.

10.) ROUGE
Philadelphia — Once you get tired of Philly's famous cheesesteaks, stop off at the Rouge for the house special: the "Rouge Burger," made with caramelized onions and Gruyere cheese on a brioche roll, with a side of crispy, homemade Belgium-style fries. Bon appetit.

Halloween Candy Dos & Don'ts

Q: I always overbuy Halloween candy and scarf down the leftovers. What are the best and worst candy options?

A: Short of giving out raisins or pencils, there are a few easy ways to avoid unwanted Halloween bloat. My advice:

1. Stick with chocolate. Two Tootsie Rolls or a pair of Hershey's Kisses are each only 50 calories. But keep that cocoa pure. Avoid bars with nuts, peanut buffer, or caramel—all of which pack in additional calories.

2. Fruit flavors are good. Go for jelly beans or Skittles. Both are low cal—for candy. Starburst are another good option with just 20 calories per piece.

3. Be a sucker. The leanest bet of all is the one that actually lasts the longest: the Tootsie Pop. Unlike candies that you devour in seconds, lollipops have only 60 calories and stick around until you get bored and trash 'em.

About the Expert:
Tanya Zuckerbrot, R.D., is a NYC-based nutritionist and author of The F-Factor Diet.

Infection Protection

Eat your way to a stronger, more powerful immune system

Only a person in a bubble has 100% protection against the germs that cause winter colds. The rest of us have to rely on the infection-fighting immune cells that patrol the bloodstream, destroying germs before they can trigger a dry, hacking cough or head-pounding cold.

Most of the time, your body does a decent-enough job keeping you well, but sometimes there are breakdowns (that's why most guys end up getting sick at least once every winter).

Working out and staying well rested can help you avoid illness, but if you really want to stop a cold before it starts, you also need to eat right. Start by piling your plate high with these proven immunity boosters. Tonight's dinner could mean the difference between fighting a few sniffles and suffering for a week in bed.

EDIBLE Rx NO. 1: BAKED sweet potatoes
Your skin and nasal mucous membranes form the first line of defense against viral invaders bent on sneaking into your bloodstream and making you sick. To keep that tissue healthy, your body needs huge amounts of beta-carotene, a vitamin found in brightly colored orange and yellow fruits and vegetables (especially sweet potatoes). Once swallowed, beta-carotene enhances the terminating action of structures called macrophages, large immune-system cells that surround foreign viruses and bacteria and destroy them, according to data from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Opt for raw taters you prepare and cook yourself, rather than those canned in high-calorie "syrup" (i.e., sugar water).

EDIBLE Rx No. 2: Tea
All liquids are beneficial when you're trying to recover from a cold, but if you want to stop an oncoming illness in its tracks, you need to bag the bug with large amounts of tea. Researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital found that sipping 20 ounces of tea daily can spur on the immune system's infantry (your army of T cells) to pump out extra-large doses of interferon. This cold- and flu-fighting compound helps coat your cells and thereby defend them against attacking germs that can make you sick.

EDIBLE Rx No. 3: Turkey
Most good sources of protein -- including beef, eggs, seafood, and dairy -- help pump up the body's immunity by providing a hefty dose of needed amino acids, which aid in the production of T cells and other immunity boosters.

Turkey's got a leg up over other protein sources, though, because it's also one of the very best sources of glutamine, an amino acid gobbled for energy by white blood cells and those killer macrophages. Since colds and infections can deplete muscle glutamine stores -- leaving you vulnerable to illness -- eating turkey often during cold season will help keep your body's cold-fighting powers at their peak. (And you thought you were done with turkey after finally polishing off all those holiday leftovers.)

EDIBLE Rx No. 4: Salmon
Yet another reason to go fish: Adding omega-3 fatty acids to your diet can help to balance out your intake of the inflammation-promoting, immunity-destroying omega-6 fats found in such foods as sunflower, safflower, and corn oils, says William Boisvert, Ph.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Eating fatty fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, and bluefish at least twice a week is a good way to reduce your chances of getting sick, he says. If that's not possible, you can reap some of the same immunity-boosting benefits from walnuts, canola oil, green leafy vegetables, wheat germ, flaxseed, and flaxseed oil. To work these foods into your diet, dress salads with canola or olive oil, top salads with wheat germ or ground flaxseed, grab a handful of walnuts for a snack instead of noshing on cookies or chips, or add one to three teaspoons of flaxseed oil to your morning fruit and yogurt smoothie or pre- or post-workout protein shake.

EDIBLE Rx No. 5: Garlic
Forget the flakes and powders. The best way to get your garlic is raw, advises James Duke, Ph.D., an herbal-medicine guru and author of The Green Pharmacy. "There are at least 13 compounds in raw garlic that help boost immunity," he says. During cold season, Duke swears by a garlic cocktail (water, raw garlic, carrots, celery, and red and black pepper), which he liquifies in a blender and then chugs to ward off illness. If you can't stomach raw garlic, add as much as possible to the foods you cook, whether it's stir-fry, meat loaf, pasta, or soup.

EDIBLE Rx No. 6: Almonds
If almonds were music, they'd rock out loud, because they're heavy in metal -- the tasty seeds have an unusually high magnesium content. According to a European Journal of Clinical Nutrition review article, magnesium-rich foods help strengthen cells and bolster immunity in a number of ways, especially in athletes. Unfortunately, four out of five men don't get enough of the mineral. Magnesium is prevalent in green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and fish, but it is particularly concentrated in seeds and nuts, including almonds. Two ounces of almonds -- or a single handful -- provide nearly half your daily magnesium requirement of 420 milligrams, so go nuts!

EDIBLE Rx No. 7: Raisin Bran
Zinc lozenges might help lessen existing cold symptoms, but they're often too little, too late in terms of strengthening the immune system. It's much more important to have high-quality sources of zinc in your regular diet, says Boisvert. "Zinc helps keep your thymus gland running at its peak," he says. "That's important because the thymus is responsible for converting ordinary white blood cells into the specialized T cells that recognize and destroy invading germs." Whole grains are naturally high in zinc, and most breakfast cereals are fortified with even more of the hard-to-get mineral. A half-cup of Total Raisin Bran, for example, boasts about eight milligrams of zinc -- enough to satisfy even the biggest guy's daily zinc requirement.

EDIBLE Rx No. 8: Vitamin-E capsules
When it's not busy fighting cancer and slowing the signs of aging, vitamin-E spends its time earning the title of the "most potent cold fighter" around. And for good reason: A new USDAstudy reports that taking vitamin E may help reduce both the severity of your cold as well as the length of time you're sick by up to 20%.

And, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, adding a little E to your diet might even keep you from getting sick in the first place. The study's author, Simin Nikbin Meydani, Ph.D., reports that swallowing just 200 additional units of vitamin E each day could help most people significantly reduce their risk of colds and upper-respiratory infections.

Look-Good, Feel-Better

Smooth wrinkles, burn fat and shed stress by eating right

You know the drill: Eat less fat and you'll be less fat. Eat more protein and your muscles will be fuller and firmer. Eat more bean-curd salads and you'll probably beg someone to stop serving you bean-curd salads.

"However, there's more going on below the surface to healthy eating than most people realize," says Nicholas Perricone, M.D., adjunct professor at the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University and author of The Wrinkle Cure. "It all comes down to how your body responds to the foods you're taking in."

What the good doctor is talking about is inflammation. Not mere redness and swelling, but subclinical inflammation, which can't be seen by the naked eye. Inflammation exists throughout your body in various degrees, and is influenced by external factors such as the food you eat and the air you breathe. For example, researchers at the University of Buffalo have found that eating large quantities of sugar and fats causes an increased concentration of free radicals in your bloodstream, which creates inflammation in the body.

Perricone, who has given several lectures about inflammation on PBS, is world-renowned for creating nutritional plans designed to help the body counteract these inflammatory responses. His clients have become stronger, leaner and healthier by following his advice.
Perricone has given Men's Fitness five ways to help you look younger, lose fat and feel better through avoiding inflammation.

LOOK 10 YEARS YOUNGER
The goal: Cut back on your sugar intake.

The challenge: Most people don't realize the toll sugar takes on their appearance. "Sugar is responsible for nearly half of all skin aging, because it inhibits the effectiveness of collagen within your skin cells," says Perricone. Excess sugar in your system binds with collagen, causing a chemical change called glycosylation. Ideally, collagen molecules slide easily over each other, giving the skin a soft, elastic look. After being attacked by sugar, the collagen fibers become cross-linked and stick to each other, resulting in sagging and wrinkled skin. Glycosylation can also cause age spots and discolored marks on the skin by overworking melanocytes, the cells that provide pigment.

The plan: Avoiding sweets is a must, but identifying hidden forms of sugar is even more important. "Try to stay away from foods that are higher on the glycemic index, such as corn, bananas, potatoes and peas," says Perricone. Instead, eat more foods that are low on the glycemic index, such as kiwi, blueberries, peaches, leafy greens, broccoli and spinach. "These types of fruits and vegetables deliver sugar into your system at a slower rate, since they're also packed with fiber. They're also rich in antioxidants that help eliminate free radicals and reduce inflammation in the skin. Left unchecked, [free radicals] can lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, a weakened immune system and other health issues."

Perricone green-lights the regular use of topical anti-inflammatories such as alpha-lipoic acid and vitamin C ester to increase elasticity in the skin. Antioxidant creams can be found at health-food stores such as Whole Foods. If creams aren't your thing, try taking 100 milligrams of alpha-lipoic acid in tablet form (available in most health-food stores) twice daily. "This anti-inflammatory antioxidant also inhibits the attachment of sugar to protein, minimizing the amount of damage sugar can do to your skin," says Perricone.

SHED YOUR STRESS
The goal: Switch from coffee to tea.

The challenge: All those high-priced lattes not only subtract cash from your wallet, but all that milk, cream and sugar can deposit a Venti-sized amount of calories around your midsection. Moreover, a single cup of coffee raises cortisol levels for 12 to 14 hours. Cortisol, a hormone pumped out by the body at times of stress, is necessary for survival, but when cortisol levels are chronically elevated, you're asking for all sorts of trouble beyond fat deposition.

"Too much cortisol in the system is toxic to brain cells, thins your skin, decalcifies your bones, and suppresses your immune system," explains Perricone. Cortisol also kicks up insulin levels by raising your blood sugar, encouraging the storage of excess calories as fat. "Making the switch has been proven to show an average weight loss of up to eight pounds in just six weeks," says Perricone—and that's if no other change, such as beginning a workout program, is implemented during the same period.

The plan: Actually, caffeine is not the culprit, but rather the organic acids found in coffee that cause cortisol levels to skyrocket. Switching to tea, whether caffeinated or decaffeinated, can curtail cortisol release and insulin spike while keeping you healthy minus the withdrawal symptoms.

The Better Sex Diet

Want more action? A little bit of forking around may help you and your lady score the best sex ever.

ROCK HER WORLD AT BREAKFAST
Eat this:
* 1 cup cooked oatmeal (make it with 1% milk, a spoonful of cocoa powder, artificial sweetener, and top with chopped walnuts)
* 1 cup plain yogurt mixed with 1 cup chopped strawberries
* 8 oz Welch's 100% Concord Grape Juice

Why:
You want your arteries like your bed partner: healthy, flexible, and ready to pump at a moment's notice.

How it works:
Arteries gummed up with plaque reduce the flow of blood down below, making it more difficult to get rock hard and stay that way. Our meal combines oatmeal, which has been linked to lower blood cholesterol concentrations, plus cocoa, which amplifies its effects while boosting good HDL cholesterol. Nuts like walnuts supply a shot of the amino acid arginine to pump up the production of nitric oxide, a compound involved in successful erections, while grape juice and strawberries fight sodium and help your blood vessels to relax, ensuring your blood pressure stays in check.

AMP UP THOSE LOVING FEELINGS AT LUNCH
Eat this:
* A salad made with 2 cups of romaine lettuce, 1 medium chopped tomato, 1⁄2 cup of marinated artichokes (drained) plus balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing
* A can of your favorite beef stew with 1 cup cooked, cooled barley added

Why:
To protect your nerves—so you feel maximum pleasure in the sack.

How it works:
Our hearty stew tames elevated blood sugar levels, which can wreak havoc with nerves in your nether region, preventing you from enjoying sex to the fullest. Barley is brimming with a type of fiber that suppresses spikes in blood glucose. Meanwhile, the chromium in romaine and tomatoes boosts insulin activity, helping to keep blood levels on an even keel. And the magnesium in artichokes improves insulin sensitivity, preventing glucose buildup.

BOOST YOUR TESTOSTERONE AT DINNERTIME
Eat this:
* 6 oz grilled pork tenderloin
* 1 cup quinoa tossed with 1⁄4 cup chopped cashews
* 1 cup cooked broccoli drizzled with 1 tablespoon olive oil

Why:
To help your body hormone up.

How it works:
Cashews and pork are chock-full of zinc, a mineral that's essential for testosterone production. The high-quality protein in pork and quinoa can also help you lose the love handles that may be holding you back beneath the sheets (or on the couch). That's because excess fat prompts the body to tie up T, rendering it unavailable to stir sexual urges. Finally, olive oil and cashews provide a bit of good fat to your system, since very-low-fat diets sap testosterone.