I recently spent a full week in Negril, Jamaica. Also known as paradise. It was for a friend’s destination wedding, so I HAD to go. Here’s the kicker… it was at an ALL INCLUSIVE resort. I had never been to one before so the concept was new to me. If you havent been to one, all inclusive truly means all inclusive. All the food and beverages you could want anytime, day or night. Sounds great right? As a dietitian (and human), I was a bit torn. So yes, I had more desserts than I normally have and almost certainly ate more than I should have. But that got me to thinking. Not only about HOW MUCH I was eating, but the TYPES of food I was eating as well.
Jamaican cuisine, as far as I could tell, consists mostly of the following:

Chicken, fish, tropical fruits such as papaya, mango, and pineapple, veggies such as squash, cucumber, sweet potatoes, plantains, and pumpkin, coffee (GOOD coffee), and lots of seasonings… namely jerk.

So from the outside looking in (that’d be you), all’s well. But the story doesnt exactly ends well. And the reason is that they also  seem to really love their oil (aka fat). The plantains were always fried, the sweet potatoes came in the form of chips, the veggies were beyond sauteed and were so full of oil they were soggy. I also highly questioned their food safety practices once I saw an employee pushing a cart full of fresh chicken down the sidewalk in 90 degree heat, uncovered, and not on ice. Pair that with the luke warm buffet temps and you can understand my skepticism. Let’s just say there werent any ServSafe certifications on the walls.

My point is this: Just because a diet looks and sounds healthy on the outside, remember… the cooking technique can make all the difference. Keep this in mind the next time you are at a restaurant. Go by the numbers, not by the story. And thanks for reading!