Are Microwaveable Packaged Meals Really That Bad For You?

[tgt]

Anything wrong with those meals? Provided only the salt reduced ones and ones with other healthy labels on it are bought. Dependent only on them is bad but how about one of them each day?

 

[Moonbear]

It amazes me that people even consider buying pre-packaged foods and somehow think that "healthy labels" means they are healthy. I really figured that people knew these things are not that healthy, but just don't care because it's easy to prepare and people are generally lazy. I didn't really think anyone actually believed they could be healthy to eat. I guess advertising does work.

 

[turbo]

Anything wrong with those meals? Provided only the salt reduced ones and ones with other healthy labels on it are bought. Dependent only on them is bad but how about one of them each day?

Next time you are in a store, read the lists of ingredients on some packages of "Healthy Choice" and "Lean Cuisine" meals. Then ask yourself if you want to put all that crap in your body.

 

[Topher925]

They are better for you than ramen, but not as healthy as something that you would prepare your self from fresh vegetables and meats.

 

[chemisttree]

There's nothing wrong with long lists of chemicals! They're soooo tasty.

An actual ingredient list (Michael Angelo's Chicken Parmesan)

Tomatoes (vine-ripened tomatoes, tomato puree, salt, basil)
Water (yuck! Probably that flluoridated crap!)
Pasta (100% Enriched Durum semolina, Niacin, thiamine, iron, folic acid, riboflavin)
Chicken breast
Mozzarella cheese (Pasturized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes)
Cracker crumbs (Wheat flour, garlic powder, Parmesan and Romano cheese (part skim cow's milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes) salt, spices, parsley(this confirms that parsley is not a spice), dextrose),
Soy oil
Onions
Egg
Imported Parmesan cheese (milk, salt natural lactic cultures, rennet)
Wheat flour (unbleached enriched, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid)
Olive oil
Spices
Salt
Garlic
Garlic powder
Sugar
Fresh parsley

I dare you to show me the chemicals on that list...

And, yes I do want to put all that crap into my body (with the possible exception of the fluoride-poisoned water).

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

An actual ingredient list (Michael Angelo's Chicken Parmesan)

Well Michael Angelo's brand is relatively expensive. There are a few 'Organic' label brands that are relatively expensive aswell.

 

[Topher925]

Water (yuck! Probably that flluoridated crap!)

Don't you know that Dihydrogen Oxide is incredibly bad for you? It only takes a single tablespoon of the stuff to kill you! I would never eat anything that has that poison in it.

Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) is a colorless and odorless chemical compound, also referred to by some as Dihydrogen Oxide, Hydrogen Hydroxide, Hydronium Hydroxide, or simply Hydric acid. Its basis is the highly reactive hydroxyl radical, a species shown to mutate DNA, denature proteins, disrupt cell membranes, and chemically alter critical neurotransmitters. The atomic components of DHMO are found in a number of caustic, explosive and poisonous compounds such as Sulfuric Acid, Nitroglycerine and Ethyl Alcohol.

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

 

[Pengwuino]

Onions

I hope you don't fill your childs stomach with crap like that as well! Disgusting.

 

[mgb_phys]

They are better for you than ramen,

And what's wrong with Ramen - they are a major part of the international jet set lifestyle of airline pilots (as well as grad students)

http://images.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/01/19/askthepilot217/story.jpg

Jan. 19, 2007 | On Saturday, Jan. 6, the aviation world was rocked by tragic news.
Momofuku Ando died of a heart attack in Japan at age 96. Ando was the inventor of instant ramen noodles.

For more on the essentials carried by airline pilots and instructions on the best way of cooking Ramen in a hotel coffee machine http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/01/19/askthepilot217/

 

[turbo]

Well Michael Angelo's brand is relatively expensive. There are a few 'Organic' label brands that are relatively expensive aswell.

"Organic", "Healthy", "Low-fat", "Low-sodium" etc are slathered all over the labels of these processed foods. Read a bit more closely, and see how many times "high-fructose corn syrup", "modified food starch", "autolyzed yeast", "spice extract", etc show up. Also, salt is often mentioned several times in connection with the main ingredients, sauces, etc. I don't ever remember my mother or grandmother reaching for "high-fructose corn syrup" or "autolyzed yeast" when making meals for our family.

How hard is it to make simple dishes and freeze up portions to take for lunch? If you are a student living in a dorm, there could be difficulties, but if you have an apartment with a kitchenette, it's pretty easy to make salads, rice, beans, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It's not that tough to buy some decent bread (if you don't like baking) and team that up with some cheese, apples, mustard, etc for a nice light lunch.

 

[tgt]

How hard is it to make simple dishes and freeze up portions to take for lunch? If you are a student living in a dorm, there could be difficulties, but if you have an apartment with a kitchenette, it's pretty easy to make salads, rice, beans, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It's not that tough to buy some decent bread (if you don't like baking) and team that up with some cheese, apples, mustard, etc for a nice light lunch.

The main problem lies in myself eating too much when I cook. Hence it would be really hard to freeze portions because I'll probably eat it all in one go. Anyone else have this difficulty?

 

[turbo]

The main problem lies in myself eating too much when I cook. Hence it would be really hard to freeze portions because I'll probably eat it all in one go. Anyone else have this difficulty?

When I was in college, I would plan my meals a week at a time, and make big batches of baked beans, lentil soup, spaghetti, whole-wheat bread, stews, etc, with the intent of making meals of the hot stuff for breakfast and supper, with light lunches of sandwiches, fruit, cheese that I could lug in a back-pack. It's not hard to do, once you get the hang of it, and the light, cold lunch was really handy. I attended college before microwaves were available, so there was a bit of a wrinkle that you won't have to deal with.

 

[junglebeast]

When I was in college, I would plan my meals a week at a time, and make big batches of baked beans, lentil soup, spaghetti, whole-wheat bread, stews, etc, with the intent of making meals of the hot stuff for breakfast and supper, with light lunches of sandwiches, fruit, cheese that I could lug in a back-pack. It's not hard to do, once you get the hang of it, and the light, cold lunch was really handy. I attended college before microwaves were available, so there was a bit of a wrinkle that you won't have to deal with.

I tried that once, but I couldn't help from just eating the whole week's supply in the first 2 days. I made some good food for a while, though :)

 

[turbo]

I tried that once, but I couldn't help from just eating the whole week's supply in the first 2 days. I made some good food for a while, though :)

Hmmmm... Munchies?

If you plan your meals and size them appropriately so that you don't get ravenous during the day, you should be able to control food-intake. You may be able to reduce intake by substituting foods that are satisfying (crunchy, good mouth-feel, etc) in some sensory metrics. Carrots are really cheap, crunchy, and full of fiber and vitamins. Celery is a bit more expensive, but still a nice low-cal snack. In season, Bing cherries, apples, and other fruits can be great snacks or even lunches. You don't have to have a hot meal 3x/day, or even a large meal. In college, I used to hunt down an immigrant whose parents were bakers, and buy a nice round loaf of bread every few days, until I decided to start baking my own. If you didn't track him down before about 10am, he'd be sold out. The bread was that good.

 

[tgt]

I tried that once, but I couldn't help from just eating the whole week's supply in the first 2 days. I made some good food for a while, though :)

Exactly my problem. The hardest was right after cooking it when the portions are still warm. There is so much temptations to eat them now rather then save them for later.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Exactly my problem. The hardest was right after cooking it when the portions are still warm. There is so much temptations to eat them now rather then save them for later.

Same here. If I make a skillet of spaghetti I'll snarf down half of it right after it's done. Then the next day the cold leftovers don't look so good because I gorged on spaghetti the night before. Then the day after that, they are starting to look pretty old.. a week goes by.. never gets eaten.

 

[tgt]

Same here. If I make a skillet of spaghetti I'll snarf down half of it right after it's done. Then the next day the cold leftovers don't look so good because I gorged on spaghetti the night before. Then the day after that, they are starting to look pretty old.. a week goes by.. never gets eaten.

How have you tried to solve this problem?

 

[DaveC426913]

How have you tried to solve this problem?

The solution is already stated. Eat it all while it's hot. Are you not paying attention? :rofl:

 

[Moonbear]

The main problem lies in myself eating too much when I cook. Hence it would be really hard to freeze portions because I'll probably eat it all in one go. Anyone else have this difficulty?

Actually, freezing portions helps with controlling what you eat. It's the premise of most of those expensive diet plans that make you eat their food.

The best way to do it is not to just package up the leftovers from dinner (you can do that too, but if you wait for leftovers, you're more prone to overeat when the food is fresh). Instead, spend an afternoon cooking when it's NOT a meal time, and with the purpose of making your own single-serving meals. Cook up the food, put it in containers and straight to the freezer. Save one serving of something for dinner. Those TV dinners sold in the freezer section are really very expensive for what is in them.

I was thinking of something other than TV dinners, though, when you described "microwaveable packaged meals," though. SOME of the frozen TV dinners aren't that bad in terms of ingredients. Usually the big hazard is the sodium or fat content, not so much strange chemicals in the frozen ones. There are things in the canned food section that can be microwaved too, and they tend to have a lot more preservatives in them.

Think about what most TV dinners contain, though. Some sort of meat, like turkey, or chicken, or ground beef (salisbury steak or meatloaf), plus a fairly sugary vegetable like corn or peas, and mashed potatoes. You could roast up a chicken or meatloaf on the weekend, get a bag of frozen vegetables for the week (better to buy fresh, but frozen is okay if you don't find what you want in fresh), and make a big batch of mashed potatoes. Frozen vegetables with a little water added cook up quickly in a microwave, then just reheat the meat and potatoes. You know exactly how much butter or salt you've added that way. When you cook up your meat and potatoes, you can divide it right away into single meal containers. If you're a little hungrier one night, make some extra vegetable.

 

[turbo]

Good advice, MB. I would add that whenever you are feeling a bit "snacky" at home, you should not resort to a meal or a meal-sized portion of whatever you have kicking around. That way lies obesity. Instead, haul out some low-fat crackers, fruit, etc, and snack a bit (with no set portions) and STOP eating immediately when you are no longer really hungry. You will be sated a bit later, so try to anticipate this by relaxing and stopping before you are "full". Humans are genetically omnivores who are "hunter-gatherers". Who here thinks that early humans gorged themselves and went to bed full every night?

 

[maverick_starstrider]

Hmmmm... Munchies?

If you plan your meals and size them appropriately so that you don't get ravenous during the day, you should be able to control food-intake. You may be able to reduce intake by substituting foods that are satisfying (crunchy, good mouth-feel, etc) in some sensory metrics. Carrots are really cheap, crunchy, and full of fiber and vitamins. Celery is a bit more expensive, but still a nice low-cal snack. In season, Bing cherries, apples, and other fruits can be great snacks or even lunches. You don't have to have a hot meal 3x/day, or even a large meal. In college, I used to hunt down an immigrant whose parents were bakers, and buy a nice round loaf of bread every few days, until I decided to start baking my own. If you didn't track him down before about 10am, he'd be sold out. The bread was that good.

No offense dude but you have to understand that different people are... different. To me that sounds like an exceptionally boring lifestyle, for you it may be extremely fullfilling. I've always been the type of person who ate whatever was convenient (including my share of microwaveble meals and ramen noodles) and I've always found these kind of 'good food' arguments from very assidous people to almost entirely hot air. The first assumption is that 'grandma's homestyle cooking' was some how transcendentally superior to food made in a cold corporate factory (this akin to the argument that chewing on willow bark is a better way to get rid of a head ache then popping an aspirin). The second assumption is that synthetic additives are inherintly inferior, worse for you body, or dangerous. The third is that there is something emotionally fulfilling about preparing your own food. To all these assumptions I would say support them with actual evidence. The fact that your grand mother's cupboard didn't contain an ingredient titled hydrolized fructose syrup is rather meaningless in terms of answering the OP's question of whether these things are BAD for you. Personally I'd put good money that a steady diet of grandma style hearty pasta would put you in the ground far faster than mainlining lean cuisine meals.

Anywho, I'd say if you actually wanted to answer the OP's question you'd actually need some sort of facts of studies to back up your naturalist propoganda. Can you actually demonstrate that eating lean cuisine microwaveable meals is more likely to give you heart disease, make you obese, detrimental to overall fitness or reduce your quality of life in any way. I for one am quite a good cook, my mother was quite into it and insisted I learn. However, I find cooking a boring, time consuming chore and I don't find home cooked meals to be inherently superior to store bought or take-out. It reminds me of some of the expensive restaurants I've been to where they'll put kobe ground beef in a ciabatti bun topped with home made honey mustard and a tangy tomato sauce and charge you $50 and I find it's no better than the cheese burger I could have gotten at a local pub. It's all a whole lot of the emperor's new clothes. Anywho, that's my quasi-rant like take on the issue.

 

[Phrak]

...
Imported Parmesan cheese (milk, salt natural lactic cultures, rennet)
...

Mmmm. Rennet.

http://www.yourdictionary.com/rennet"

ren·net (ren′it)

noun

1.
a.the membrane lining the stomach of an unweaned animal, esp. the fourth stomach of a calf
b.the contents of such a stomach
2.
a.an extract of this membrane or of the stomach contents, containing rennin and used to curdle milk, as in making cheese or junket
b.any substance used to curdle milk

 

[tgt]

The solution is already stated. Eat it all while it's hot. Are you not paying attention? :rofl:

Eat it all while it's hot is actually the problem.

 

[tgt]

Actually, freezing portions helps with controlling what you eat. It's the premise of most of those expensive diet plans that make you eat their food.

The best way to do it is not to just package up the leftovers from dinner (you can do that too, but if you wait for leftovers, you're more prone to overeat when the food is fresh). Instead, spend an afternoon cooking when it's NOT a meal time, and with the purpose of making your own single-serving meals. Cook up the food, put it in containers and straight to the freezer. Save one serving of something for dinner. Those TV dinners sold in the freezer section are really very expensive for what is in them.

I was thinking of something other than TV dinners, though, when you described "microwaveable packaged meals," though. SOME of the frozen TV dinners aren't that bad in terms of ingredients. Usually the big hazard is the sodium or fat content, not so much strange chemicals in the frozen ones. There are things in the canned food section that can be microwaved too, and they tend to have a lot more preservatives in them.

Think about what most TV dinners contain, though. Some sort of meat, like turkey, or chicken, or ground beef (salisbury steak or meatloaf), plus a fairly sugary vegetable like corn or peas, and mashed potatoes. You could roast up a chicken or meatloaf on the weekend, get a bag of frozen vegetables for the week (better to buy fresh, but frozen is okay if you don't find what you want in fresh), and make a big batch of mashed potatoes. Frozen vegetables with a little water added cook up quickly in a microwave, then just reheat the meat and potatoes. You know exactly how much butter or salt you've added that way. When you cook up your meat and potatoes, you can divide it right away into single meal containers. If you're a little hungrier one night, make some extra vegetable.

If for only one person then the economics isn't that bad. Yes, I was thinking about those TV dinners, not stuff in cans.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

"Organic", "Healthy", "Low-fat", "Low-sodium" etc are slathered all over the labels of these processed foods. Read a bit more closely, and see how many times "high-fructose corn syrup", "modified food starch", "autolyzed yeast", "spice extract", etc show up. Also, salt is often mentioned several times in connection with the main ingredients, sauces, etc. I don't ever remember my mother or grandmother reaching for "high-fructose corn syrup" or "autolyzed yeast" when making meals for our family.

How hard is it to make simple dishes and freeze up portions to take for lunch? If you are a student living in a dorm, there could be difficulties, but if you have an apartment with a kitchenette, it's pretty easy to make salads, rice, beans, potatoes, vegetables, etc. It's not that tough to buy some decent bread (if you don't like baking) and team that up with some cheese, apples, mustard, etc for a nice light lunch.

You know I think that my grandmother may have actually had corn syrup in her cupboard. Not that she was a very good cook or anything.

Around here people are rather more conscious of their eating habits so the 'organic' foods section is usually actually pretty good. If they weren't people would just go to the local organic foods market instead.
Here's just one company...
http://www.cedarlanefoods.com/goodfood.htm
Most of their food doesn't even have meat in it.
There are several others that I see and have considered trying. They're just so expensive.

Usually I just pick up Marie Calender's or Claim Jumper's frozen dinners on my way to work occasionally. They're usually on sale for just two to three dollars and its an easy filling dinner to do while working a twelve hour shift. I doubt either of those companies make very healthy dinners though.

 

[Moonbear]

If for only one person then the economics isn't that bad. Yes, I was thinking about those TV dinners, not stuff in cans.

If you start cooking for yourself, you'll be amazed how much you can save on your food bill by skipping the TV dinners. Once in a while they're on sale for something like 10 for $10, and then even I'll buy some to toss in the freezer for the days when I just don't want to think about making a lunch and nothing I've prepared sounds interesting to eat (I don't buy the ones that are foods I can make myself...so none of the lasagnas or pastas, except if they have cream sauces instead of red sauces). Even then, for what you get, $1 is overpriced...a handful of pasta, a couple tablespoons of sauce, and some miniscule vegetables (those are the ones that are only $1).

Sure, you may be able to afford the spend the extra on TV dinners, but if it's so much cheaper to make your own meals, why waste the money on them when you could use it for something else? My own preference is that once in a while, I would rather splurge on dinner at a nice restaurant if I'm going to spend money on food rather than spending it on every day meals I could make myself.

The only time it wasn't very economical for me to cook for myself was when I lived in dorms, because I didn't have a freezer or even a large enough fridge for the leftovers, so I had to cook in smaller portions and more food went to waste for lack of places to store it (and because, like most single people, you get tired of eating the same food every day for a week if you cook too much and can't freeze it to eat it another time to have some variety).

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I remember they had a couple of episodes of Top Chef where they were supposed to make frozen dinners. Part of the callenge of course was coming up with recipes with ingredients that would freeze and easily reheat without getting ruined. They definitely made some interesting meals.

That could be a good callenge when I get my new place. Scour the web for frozen meal recipes. I'll need to invest in some good microwavable storage containers.

I usually make large batches of pasta but, as already noted, it gets old and boring pretty quickly. I tried red beans and rice but it tends to turn into a mushy brick after refrigeration. I'll have to try it with fresh beans instead of canned and maybe get some long grain rice instead of just using calrose.

 

[turbo]

I usually make large batches of pasta but, as already noted, it gets old and boring pretty quickly. I tried red beans and rice but it tends to turn into a mushy brick after refrigeration. I'll have to try it with fresh beans instead of canned and maybe get some long grain rice instead of just using calrose.

Try basmati rice, too. It has a nice nutty flavor and it tastes good warmed-over. If you haven't got one of the little Black and Decker food steamers, that's a really good investment - they cook rice perfectly, and steaming is a great way to heat up frozen vegetables without dissolving away nutrients in boiling water and wrecking the texture.

 

[DaveC426913]

No offense dude but you have to understand that different people are... different.

This could have gone without saying. Everyone's here to offer their personal input. No one is claiming authority.

To me that sounds like an exceptionally boring lifestyle, for you it may be extremely fullfilling.

If one needs to lose weight through improving their diet, one will need to put some effort into changing one's lifestyle.

I've always been the type of person who ate whatever was convenient (including my share of microwaveble meals and ramen noodles) and I've always found these kind of 'good food' arguments from very assidous people to almost entirely hot air. The first assumption is that 'grandma's homestyle cooking' was some how transcendentally superior to food made in a cold corporate factory (this akin to the argument that chewing on willow bark is a better way to get rid of a head ache then popping an aspirin).

There is no arguing that, for the most part, fresh produce is nutritionally better than processed, preserved produce.

And if you're going to demand that we "...actually need some sort of facts of studies..." then leave off the hyperbole such as "grandma's home cooking" and "willow bark".

To all these assumptions I would say support them with actual evidence.
...
I don't find home cooked meals to be inherently superior to store bought or take-out.

Ah. Hypocrisy. Your personal experiences are, of course, more valid than anyone else's.

It reminds me of some of the expensive restaurants I've been to where they'll put kobe ground beef in a ciabatti bun topped with home made honey mustard and a tangy tomato sauce and charge you $50 and I find it's no better than the cheese burger I could have gotten at a local pub.

A totally separate and thus irrelevant issue. Did anyone claim that the kobe, ciabatti, honey mustard and tomato sauce were more expensive because they were healthier? You've demonstrated that you've missed the point.



You're right. It was a rant. Personal unfounded experience, mixed with irrelevant arguments - while claiming everyone else needs to provide facts...

 

[Math Is Hard]

How have you tried to solve this problem?

I only cook about twice a year, so it's not too much of a problem. If I can't get food other people have prepared, like a frozen dinner or a meal from a restaurant, I tend to eat "things" rather than actual meals - a banana for breakfast, a can of peas for dinner. Whatever is available. I eat more or less like a raccoon.

 

[Evo]

I only cook about twice a year, so it's not too much of a problem. If I can't get food other people have prepared, like a frozen dinner or a meal from a restaurant, I tend to eat "things" rather than actual meals - a banana for breakfast, a can of peas for dinner. Whatever is available. I eat more or less like a raccoon.

Ahaha, I really *do* eat like that.

I agree with Chem, I don't see a problem with frozen dinners, I eat them all of the time. Canned soups are much scarier.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I only cook about twice a year, so it's not too much of a problem. If I can't get food other people have prepared, like a frozen dinner or a meal from a restaurant, I tend to eat "things" rather than actual meals - a banana for breakfast, a can of peas for dinner. Whatever is available. I eat more or less like a raccoon.

So if you ever get married you'll be looking for a well trained man-wife?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Ahahaq, I really *do* eat like that.

oh yes, you're worse than I am -- I seem to remember you survived on nothing but a spiral cut ham for two weeks.

 

[Math Is Hard]

So if you ever get married you'll be looking for a well trained man-wife?

oh, absolutely! :!)

 

[Evo]

oh yes, you're worse than I am -- I seem to remember you survived on nothing but a spiral cut ham for two weeks.

:shy: That would be me.