TV Dinners and Health Concerns

In a perfect world, all frozen dinners would not only taste good, but they would also be good for you. In the real world, however, this is not the case. Most frozen TV dinners are filled with preservatives, fat, and calories. The marketing teams for these products do a great job in making it look healthy and tasty, but typically that is far from the truth.

Next time you're out at the supermarket, flip those frozen dinners around and check out the nutrition facts. More specifically, look at the amount of sodium in any given package. In the USA, products cannot be labeled as "healthy" if the amount of sodium exceeds 480 milligrams per serving. If it exceeds 600 milligrams, it can't even be called a single serving size! Make sure you check how much sodium is in the meal before buying it, as too much sodium is very harmful to your health.

Lots of people look at the overall fat content, which is OK. However, you really want to look at what people call "the bad fat content." That is the saturated fat and transfat contents, which can lead to heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and elevated levels of cholesterol.

Lots of marketing groups will try to sell you on a product being low in calories in sneaky ways. Some might say "LOWER CALORIES" in huge block letters, only to have something like "than a huge hunk of lard" in tiny font just below it. Of course, they don't actually say that. However, they are able to boast about lower calories if their product has just slightly fewer calories than a similar product. That amount of calories might still be very high, so please make sure you understand what is a high level of calories for you before purchasing something.

Lastly, serving sizes are typically smaller than what you actually eat. If you have a box of wheat crackers that are smaller than an inch by an inch, the serving size might be 10 of those tiny crackers, but that can be two mouthfuls for some people! If I have a bowl of Wheat Thins, I typically eat anywhere between 2-3 servings on average without even knowing it. They are very addictive, and the serving sizes that they have measured out are a lot smaller than what I believe the average person consumes in one sitting.

So next time you are in the supermarket shopping around for something convenient and quick, make sure to read the nutrition facts. Keep in mind, however, that low sodium, fat, calories, etc. typically means low flavor. They won't taste as good, but your body will thank you!

Thanks for checking me out! I also have a couple of healthy food blogs that I update frequently: