Healthy Eating on Vacation in Guanajuato, Mexico

The bad news is watch those tamales, laced with lard. The good news - every corn tortilla you eat provides 40mg of calcium.So how do you balance the good and the bad while you're eating festively in Mexico,for example, in my adopted home city of Guanajuato?

Most North Americans know how to avoid illness. Drink bottled water, stay away from raw fruit and vegetables peeled by others, leave the lettuce, and, some people say, avoid fish and shellfish.

But maintaining fitness in the face of Mexico's culinary temptations takes planning. I go by three basic principles: watching snacks, eating small portions and avoiding fatty food like carnitas, cake or cookies, and pizza, all readily available in Mexico. Just as at home, fast food is usually fatty food, often made with cheese high in saturated fat..

Of course, not all fat is equally bad. When I want to snack, if I don't but a banana, I buy monounsaturated peanuts or an avocado, all coming in their natural covers.

What could be more Mexican than one of those dark green fellows with the light green insides, many of them grown in the state of Michoacan? You can peel the avocado, cut yourself a slice and feel those in-between- meal pangs go away so that you can usually walk right past the carnitas (those tasty but fatty meat snacks) sold everywhere in Mexico. Meanwhile, you may be lowering the low-density cholesterol level in your blood.

Peanuts roasted in their shells provide healthy nibbles whether you're visiting an archaeological site or exploring city lanes. Apples from the US and Mexico are popular and available just about everywhere in Mexico. All you need is a pocketknife to peel one. If you visit Mexico in the winter, you'll find juicy clementinas (tangerines), supplying vitamin C and calcium along with flavor. And of course there are mangos and papayas. .

At breakfast in your hotel or restaurant, if you want to avoid eggs, you can usually order a fruit plate with or without yogurt.. Later in the day, if you see lentil soup on a restaurant menu, you'll be eating a dish Mexicans enjoy and add to your fiber intake at the same time. Remember, that the healthiest beans (an important source of calcium for Mexicans) are ones that have not been refried.

But what about those enchiladas suizas, shrimp cocktails, burritos filled with succulent pork, cream soups and other goodies that spice up your trip to Mexico. Think small portions, even if you leave food on your plate. Except for the bowl of soup, you can share, cutting down the damage. Instead of cream soup, choose a healthier alternative like chicken consommé with vegetables or tomato broth with noodles. And if you're eating fish or seafood, order a caldo de pescado instead of one with mariscos. The tasty tomato broth will be the same but you'll be eating fish instead of shrimp and oysters.

For enchiladas, tamales, meaty burritos, or those delectable, richly sauced chile nogados, think of sharing. You don't need to eat a whole order, one will do for two or three of you.

At the early afternoon fixed-price meal known as comida corrida, know that Mexican restaurants usually serve smaller portions than their restaurants across the border. A moderately priced mid-day meal will consist of soup, salad, rice, tortillas or bread, a small main dish, a fruit drink and maybe a dessert, which if you're lucky, may be fresh strawberries. You can ask whether the berrres have been disinfected, as they are in many restaurants frequented by tourists. And if you want a drink of plain water, ask for it.

Remember that drinking fluids is important, especially at the beach or the high altitude of Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, or Guanajuato, where I live. If you don't want to carry a water bottle, plan to stop frequently for some (preferably non-alcoholic) liquid, such as apple soda pop or Coca Cola, both Mexican favorites.

Guanajuato has several small, reasonably priced restaurants that make healthy eating easy: For vegetarian lasagna, go to La Esquina del Sol. El Midi in Plaza San Fernando serves delicious salads and homemade bread. Both are run by women from French Canada. El Burladero and Las Cruces usually offer a vegetarian main dish as does. Yamuna with its "Hindoo" style menu of the day. Panchos in Mercado Hidalgo serves tasty fish soup.

Finally, don't forget to try the salsa, the user-friendly cilantro, tomato, onion, chile mixture popular in Guanajuato that gives almost anything an extra spark...