Why You Should Avoid Low Fat Frozen Dinners when Losing Weight

 

 
 Low fat frozen dinners may seem like a good option to cut fat when you are on a diet. These meals in a box can appear to be healthy and balanced and may even taste good enough to tolerate when you are trying to lose weight. But there are ways in which these entrees may not be good for you. Why should you avoid low fat frozen dinners?
 
Avoid Low Fat Frozen Dinners Due to High Sodium Content. In order to improve taste, manufacturers often add extra sodium to frozen dinners. The United States Department of Agriculture recommends no more than 2,300 mg. of sodium intake¹ daily for healthy adults. That is equivalent to approximately 1 teaspoon of salt.
For example, Healthy Choice Roast Chicken Breast meal contains 600 mg. of sodium. This is one-fourth of the daily allowance of sodium for a healthy adult. If you
are eating 6 small meals/snacks a day, you would have to watch your sodium intake for all of these other meals to indulge in this small, 11 ounce meal.
To help you see how much sodium is in this meal, a 1 ounce portion of potato chips² contains 168 mg. of sodium. Be sure to check nutritional labels before buying low fat dinners or avoid them altogether.
 
Avoid Low Fat Frozen Dinners Due to Added Sugar. Different sugars are added to low fat dinners to make them taste better. Sugars add calories and no nutritional value to a meal. Often these sugars are in the form of high fructose corn syrup.
For example, Stouffer's Lean Cuisine Baked Chicken Breast contains 5 grams of sugar. Regular Stouffer's Baked Chicken Breast contains 2 grams of sugar². Although 3 grams of sugar may not be much, it can up during the day, adding unnecessary calories to your diet.

Avoid Low Fat Frozen Dinners and Make Meals from Fresh Foods. Fresh foods are always better than prepared frozen dinners. They are not processed and only have ingredients that you add. You can control how much salt and sugar you add to each meal. Herbs and seasonings can go a long way to adding taste without extra sodium and sugar.

For ease in preparation of one meal at a time, you can separate fresh meats and foods into serving sizes before freezing or storing. Then you can take out and prepare what you need for each meal. This is a healthier choice and can help you avoid low fat frozen dinner when losing weight.

Original source: Jolynne M Hudnell, Yahoo! Contributor Network

1) USDA; Dietary Guidelines; www.health.gov
All other nutritional information found at:
2) Calorie Count; Food Browser; www.caloriecount.about.com