Are Ready Meals Healthy? The truth about ready meals
Ready meals are simple and practical. You come home from a long day at work and quickly put a pizza in the oven - who doesn't know that? It tastes more or less good and the kitchen stays clean. Start cooking now? Far too complicated, far too long. Ready meals can be a real relief not only for people who are lazy to cook.
Granted, their reputation really isn't the best. But: are ready meals really as unhealthy as people think? Yes and no. The bottom line is that they are as healthy as they are put together.
In the following article we will shed light on the topic of ready meals and take a closer look at what is in them and what it does to the body if we often consume ready meals.
Ready meals with harmful effects?
In fact, ready meals often cause obesity and diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Why it is like that? Quite simply: Because there is usually not a lot of healthy stuff in it. Studies have shown that after consuming ready meals for several weeks, the risk of contracting the diseases mentioned - and others - increases.
What actually counts as a ready meal?
Frozen pizza is a real classic among ready meals. 5-minute terrines or ready-made mashed potatoes in powder form from a bag or ravioli from a can are also ready meals. It no longer has to be cooked, just warmed up.
We also speak of convenience products or ready-to-eat.
What's in ready meals?
But the question now is: what exactly is in ready meals that makes them so unhealthy? There's a whole list there. For one thing, ready meals unfortunately contain quite a lot of calories - usually more than if you would cook the same meal yourself. This is because they often contain a lot of sugar and also hardened fats, which are anything but healthy, by the way. Because, disappointingly, many manufacturers care less that the product is healthy and much more that it tastes good and can be sold at a good price.
Instead of fresh ingredients, controversial flavor carriers are used, as well as aromas, fat and sugar . This quickly becomes clear when you take a closer look at the list of ingredients. Only: Who does that when they buy ready meals?
Ready meals – tempting and practical
Ready meals are one thing above all: practical when things have to be done quickly, when you don't feel like cooking or for a quick lunch break instead of the canteen. Aside from the fact that less quality ready meals can be bad for your health, they often encourage you to eat more in general. This could be due to the fact that many finished products contain "empty calories". They are low in protein and fiber and useless carbohydrates, such as in white flour. These ensure that we get hungry again quickly after eating. This is annoying and responsible for us gaining weight faster.
Excessive intake of calories leads to lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases occurring more quickly.
Ready meal equals ready meal?
But there's also good news - you can't generally say that ready meals are unhealthy. It depends on the content! More and more manufacturers have recognized this and are offering finished products that score with healthy and high-quality ingredients, but which on the other hand also do without unhealthy ingredients such as flavors, too much sugar or salt.
So it's not necessarily the case that every ready meal is unhealthy - it's more about what's in it. It is obvious that a pizza from the discounter for 1.99 cannot really have healthy and high-quality ingredients. So if you want to eat really healthy ready meals, you have to dig a little deeper into your pocket. High-quality ingredients come at a price, regardless of whether they are ready meals or home-cooked dishes.
Of course, it also depends on how often we consume ready meals. Anyone who eats a ready-made meal twice a day is much more likely to suffer health consequences than those who only eat a ready-made meal every now and then. In case of doubt: quality before quantity!
Healthy ready meals by Löwenanteil
Our ready meals are the best proof that there is another way - the products are delicious, quick to prepare and they contain high-quality ingredients so that the dish tastes like you have cooked it yourself. Especially when it has to be quick after a long day or after training, the Löwenanteil of dishes are a wonderful alternative. They are packed in jars in an environmentally friendly way and can be eaten as required, with rice, potatoes, noodles, sweet potatoes or with millet, buckwheat or other pseudo-cereals. This also ensures variety on the table!
FAQ
Why are ready meals unhealthy?
Because they usually contain too much sugar, salt and hydrogenated fats.
Why do most ready meals make you fat?
On the one hand, they have a lot of calories, on the other hand, due to their ingredients, they ensure that we get hungry again faster.
Are ready meals generally unhealthy?
No, what matters is what's inside. There are also ready meals with healthy ingredients and without unwanted additives.