How healthy are ready meals and main courses?

You probably know it too: you come home from work already exhausted, in the best case you force yourself to do a short workout. But there is no time or motivation to cook for yourself. So you grab a ready-made meal, heat it up briefly and a sumptuous main course is ready.

Ready meals and main dishes

But are we doing ourselves and our body a favor by doing so? Let's start with the undisputed facts. Ready meals are “prepared” super quickly. This is often just too tempting, especially in a stressful day at work. For example, many employees resort to quick dishes during their lunch break. In addition, many ready meals taste quite delicious. We will explain why in a moment. In this post, we look at how healthy these meals really are and what alternatives there are.

Ready meals and main dishes are often calorie bombs

Considering that many ready meals have a rather modest portion size, they contain a hell of a lot of calories. This is often due to the high fat content of these quick meals. Fat is a powerful flavor enhancer, and many suppliers of ready meals take advantage of this property. It is precisely this high fat content that ensures, among other things, that the quick meals taste delicious. Unfortunately, unhealthy fats are often used for this purpose. Saturated fat has been shown to be bad for our bodies in large amounts. Tragically, these same fatty acids are found in many ready meals. These fats are cheaper for the manufacturers and have a longer shelf life - much to the chagrin of your well-being.

Ready meals and main dishes are calorie bombs

Incidentally, saturated fatty acids and the high calorie content of some convenience foods are one reason for a well-known phenomenon. During the so-called afternoon slump, we suddenly become limp and can hardly stay awake. Oddly enough, this state always sets in some time after lunch. If you regularly consume high-calorie ready meals with saturated fat, you are particularly susceptible to this mechanism. In principle, your body is showing you that these dishes are anything but healthy. Another reason many ready meals and entrees are unnecessarily high in calories is the added sugar. This increases your insulin level in the long term and is only partially suitable as an energy source.

Taste experience with side effects

The often high levels of saturated fat alone raise concerns about whether ready-to-eat meals can actually be healthy. But unfortunately that's not enough. The intense taste of ready meals is often not due to the ingredients used, but rather to the numerous additives. Artificial flavors, flavor enhancers and a whole lot of salt. These substances fool our tongue with a delicious taste. An effect that is also used diligently in many canteens. With high consumption of such foods, it can happen that we get used to these tastes. As a result, fresh food eventually tastes bland and boring. Over a long period of time, this can change our sense of taste and, in the worst case, completely alienate it. Serious consequences, as we find. Unfortunately, these are downright ignored by many ready meal manufacturers and canteen operators. Unfortunately, this is happening at the expense of many people's health, which we don't think is right. Due to the large number of saturated fatty acids and numerous artificial additives, most ready-to-eat meals are anything but healthy. Fortunately, as always, there are exceptions.

flavor enhancer

Healthy ready meals are not a myth

One positive aspect of all the unhealthy properties of many convenience foods is the fact that they can be avoided. Unhealthy ingredients like saturated fats are an active choice by manufacturers to save costs and keep food edible for longer. Therefore, when buying ready meals, you should always pay attention to which fats the meal contains. Saturated and hydrogenated fats are an indicator of high calorie content and should be avoided as much as possible for the sake of your health. The same applies to artificial additives. Fortunately, manufacturers are required to provide extensive information about the individual ingredients in their food. You should always take a close look at these and pay attention to flavor enhancers, flavorings and salts. Your taste buds and your body will thank you! In the meantime, there are actually some manufacturers who have made it their mission to produce really healthy ready meals. Of course, that includes us.

The Löwenanteil of healthy meals and main courses

For our ready meals and main dishes, we only use ingredients of the best organic quality. This is how we ensure an intense taste in a completely natural way. In addition, all our recipes have been developed by a renowned organic star chef. Since we avoid unnecessary calories and harmful fats in our dishes, they are ideal for athletes. Of course, working people and people for whom a balanced diet is important also benefit from the outstanding nutrient balance of our fitness dishes. With our meals, we want to show that ready meals can very well be quick, healthy and tasty. We want to make it possible for you not to neglect your diet and your body even on stressful days.