Not having many sources of entertainment or spaces to simply relax lead us to one place and the only place we have free access to—restaurants! You want to hang out with friends, you want to go on a date, you want to meet up with family; all we do is find the most appropriate restaurant and make reservations.

At this rate, Bangladesh will soon join the list of nations that are notoriously plagued with high rates of obesity.

UNHEALTHY MEALS

Eating out can be detrimental to our health beyond our understanding. Lax laws have created a culture of using the worst available ingredients and products to prepare meals for clients. Even if the products are of good standard, one cannot assure that their storage is healthy and done with proper hygiene in mind.

Although it cannot be ascertained whether use of products like tasting salts, or extra cream leads to serious health conditions, but the studies are not conclusive. Other researchers have shown that they can be very detrimental to health.

At restaurants, one is also likely to indulge in greater number of servings and proportions, with added appetisers, desserts and drinks due to widespread promotion. Before you know it, your snack becomes a full course meal!

SKYROCKETING PRICES

If you have never wondered why a single serving of chicken costs almost a hundred taka (or more!) whereas your mum buys an entire chicken for double that money, now is the time to do so.

The local restaurant business charges a very high markup. The amount you pay for a single meal, with additional service charge and VAT, is honestly good enough for a week's grocery of a middle-class Dhaka dweller. Math aside, that grocery is also much healthier when home-cooked.

While paranoia is not the way to go, even some of the biggest names in the city's restaurant business have been penalised solely for the lack of proper hygiene of the kitchen.

As we devoutly accept everything western, the whole restaurant/fast food industry is seeing a boom. But the very fact that most modern nations have by now figured out the damage that has already been done by this industry in the last six decades!

Eating out is an experience. It can make you and your companion feel special, relaxed and relish on a dish that you may not have mastered to prepare yourself. So keep the burger joints a handy alternative for missed lunches, but make sure they are infrequent. Keep fine dining for those special events and anniversaries. But in reality, even those can be made more special by a home cooked meal.

It will not only help you save money now, but also save the gym membership you will have take to cut down those extra pounds!

Photo: Collected