Can takeout take you out?
The link between outsourcing meals and mortality
A correlation has been established between ordering takeout and all-cause mortality — the number of people who die from any cause in a specific demographic, over a given period of time.1
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics surveyed 35,000 participants, aged 20 and older, over the course of five years. They were questioned on their habits surrounding eating meals prepared outside of the home; takeout, delivery, carryout, food trucks, restaurants, and the like. The academy followed the subjects for eight or more years after the surveys ended, and any deaths and causes of death were recorded.
The results found those who ordered out twice a day had a 50% increase in risk for all-cause mortality when compared to those who had takeout less than once a week. These frequent fliers were 18% more likely to die of a cardiovascular event, and 67% more likely to die of cancer.
Takeout twice a day? That seems like a lot.
Let’s say you’re an individual who still works in a good old fashioned office. Hearing on the news that traffic is a bear, you skip breakfast and your daily brew, popping into your local cafe for a coffee, throwing in a bagel sandwich. That’s one.
Lunchtime rolls around, and you didn’t have time to pack a lunch after your morning workout, so you run over to the market and grab a sandwich from their deli. That’s two.
After work, you swing by the store for a few sundries, eating up the time you had to cook dinner before heading to a live sports event. But that’s okay, what’s a baseball game without a hot dog anyhow? That’s three.
Notice how all three examples had nothing to do with laziness, and everything to do with the fast-paced, overworked, and overcommitted ways of modern-day life? When we prioritize our productivity over our health, it’s easy to imagine how something could go amiss two out of three meals a day. Many of us envision a bounty of fresh greens and filleted salmon on our dinner tables, but often default to a box of Singapore Mei Fun on the couch.
75% of restaurant orders are now takeout, according to a 2025 survey by the National Restaurant Association. Why? It’s fast and convenient. Cooking takes time, and many no longer want to invest their time in a homecooked meal, they want to invest it in watching Netflix while eating takeout. In US. Foods’ 2024 annual study, respondents cited wanting to watch TV while they ate, and not wanting to have to get dressed, as reasons they frequently ordered takeout.
The paradox is, after our fast-paced, overfilled days, with the demands of your professional and personal to-do lists maxing out your nervous system, you retreat to a disconnected existence, eating takeout alone and watching TV. While the findings that we prefer to have our food delivered in favor of pajamas and streaming reeks of sloth, maybe we’re simply making do.
There are obvious reasons why eating takeout twice a day would increase your chances of dying. Takeout food is higher in sodium, saturated fat, sugar and calories than homecooked meals, and typically lack vital nutrients, simultaneously depriving your body of what it needs while overloading it with what it doesn’t. Such fare contributes to health risks like heart disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes. And as far as food source goes …I once ordered Chinese takeout that would have taken a forensic team to determine the origin of the “chicken” and “vegetables” in the fried rice.
As for the less obvious reasons why takeout could take you out?
Isolation: You’re less likely to cook when cooking for one, it doesn’t seem worth the effort or the mess.
Sedentary lifestyle: Cooking is a physical activity, and if you’ve been sitting all day with no more than bathroom breaks, busting out the pots and pans and chopping up some veggies feels like effort.
Stress: With one too many things to do and people to please, ordering takeout seems like a good way to take something off your plate (ironically).
Depression: Taking care of yourself is seldom a priority if you’re one of millions suffering from depression. All the negatives of takeout food feel meaningless while the break it gives you provides a worthy reprieve.
These factors which all feed into each other are linked to an increased risk for all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortality, such as heart disease, and would sway a person to routinely choose the path of least resistance when it comes to dinner.
Takeout as a noun is indisputably detrimental to our health. Takeout as a verb is a nuanced choice we make, an action when take, in regards to our very lives.
In 2022, the National Restaurant Association published a study finding 54% of adults say purchasing takeout or delivery is essential to the way they live.2
Other things essential to a human life?
Engaging with community. Caring for others. Physical activity. New experiences. Human connection. Vitamins and minerals. Challenge. Friction. Participating in society. Nourishing rest.
Take back takeout
Make takeout an intentional choice, a fun Friday night, a new cuisine shared amongst friends. Use it to enhance points of connection and try new things. And if takeout is a vital part of your existence, take a closer look at why. You may be able to choose a more life-enhancing alternative, but if takeout is currently your lifeline to sanity, take a cue from
, author of the Substack The Reset, and infuse a sense of slowness into your outsourced meals. Turn off the screens, play relaxing music, invite over a friend to enjoy takeout together.
Overconsumption of takeout has real consequences that can decrease our lifespan and our healthspan. So before opening that app, ask yourself, is takeout your problem, or your solution?3
If you’re interested in a deeper existential dive on our need for convenience, I suggest Poetic Outlaws’ essay, The Comfortable Life is Killing You.
Association Between Frequency of Eating Away-From-Home Meals and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. Du, Yang et al. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 121, Issue 9, 1741 - 1749.e1
Adopted from Arielle Lorre’s assertion that for many addicts, alcohol is the solution, not the problem.
This all makes sense and the figures are not too surprising. Take away food is great as a treat, but as a full time diet? Nope!
this is fascinating research to me. goes back to what my mom taught me, sit down family dinner at 6pm every night is the best for health of all kinds. she also taught me to sit down for breakfast every morning before leaving the house, no matter what. and she made me pack a lunch instead of get cafeteria food. (my dad actually came home from work for lunch everyday)