Convenience Foods - Inconvenient For Our Health. | NutritionVista...Better Health. Simplified.

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Just because you open the package and place it on your dinner plate at home doesn't make it healthy or nutritious.
Convenience foods save time but don't save you from consuming preservatives, extra sodium, and hydrogenated fats.

Salt plays a double whammy role as both a preservative and as a flavor enhancer and is used liberally in a lot of convenience foods. Apart from salt, about 540 food additives and 4500 flavoring agents are used in commercial foods to "enhance" the flavor, texture and appearance of ingredients.

Fortunately, the taste for salt in the food is an acquired habit and can be reversed. A gradual reduction is recommended to enable your taste buds to feel and taste foods in their natural form.

To unlearn this `salty' habit, reduce salt in your foods gradually, giving your taste buds time to adjust. Most people find that after a few weeks their taste buds begin to appreciate the natural taste of foods and no longer miss salt.

Most convenience foods have excessive amounts of sodium and saturated fats, and as such should not be consumed more than 1-2 times a week. Those consumers with underlying hypertension, or diabetes and heart disease should avoid these foods altogether.

Convenience foods are also loaded with emulsifiers, preservatives, leavening, coloring, flavoring and thickening agents. The worst culprits are the preservatives such as MSG, which if consumed regularly over a period of time can be hazardous to one's kidneys and prostate glands.

While new research in food processing techniques is revealing better ways of retaining food values and minimizing health risks , common sense says to understand what ones body needs to maintain a healthy weight, eat proportionately and make the effort to eat fewer processed and preserved meals each week.

So How do I identify which convenience foods are healthy and which ones are not.
1. Compare nutrition labels for calories, fat, sodium, sugars and fiber
2. Choose those that have 3 g or less of fat per serving or per 50g of food.
3. Look for those that are made with whole grains or those that have whole grains listed as the first ingredient on the ingredient list
4, Have about 140mg of sodium per serving or per 50g of food. If the sodium content is 400mg per serving, it is a high sodium food. Keep away
5. Are free of trans fats (Even though a food says 0g of trans fat on the label, it can still have trans fat since labeling laws allow manufacturers to claim zero content if the amt is 0.5 g per serving or less. For a 2000 kcal diet, the upper limit for trans fat intake is 2 g and these can add up quickly. If a food has hydrogenated fat as an ingredient, then it has trans fat in it, even when the label says 0g)
6. Are prepared with natural colorings and have minimum or don't have added flavorings and preservatives.
7. Are a good source of fiber: That is they have 2.5 g to 4.9 g per serving.

There is no reason why one cannot be eating these convenience foods provided we know which ones to select Several manufacturing companies are making the effort to reduce the sodium content, use better cooking oils, ensuring there are no saturated fats and reduced sugars.

Below are a few basic steps you can take with certain types of convenience foods to lower their salt content:

Buy those products that say "with no salt added"
Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types
Cook staples such as rice, pasta, and hot cereal without salt.
Choose "convenience" foods that are low in sodium; avoid frozen dinners & pizza, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths, and salad dressings for these often have a lot of sodium
Always rinse canned foods, such as tuna or beans, to remove some sodium.

However, nothing beats eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, so dig into these nutritious foods when they are in their natural form. Salads are a terrific and quick option that can be customized to suit your taste-buds.

By. Dietitians, www.NutritionVista.com

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User Comments

11 December, 2011 | anuradha | Reply

Hi nutritionvista team,
after reading this article,i got to know that convenience foods are time saver but on the other hand they are not so healthy.now i m thinking that i shd not depend on it for my children's lunch box.

12 December, 2011 | Mrinal | Reply

Hi Anuradha,
One of the biggest problems we mothers face is how to get our children to eat healthier and enough quantity specially when they are in school. We worry about their energy levels when they need to be able to study hard and concentrate - or do well in sports.
The most important thing I can impart to you is plan ahead for the week - this way you wont be tempted to buy ready made foods.
These ready to eat junk foods actually make a child feel sleepy and lethargic and heavy not to mention you might very well be increasing their bad cholesterol levels.
Good luck -
Ps. Remember -less is more - so control the serving sizes as well.
:)

08 August, 2011 | Vijayalakshmi Iyengar | Reply

today in India lifestyles having undergone a tremendous change. The consumer is willing to spend on snacks that offer convenience, variety, and health. According to the census of India data (2011) more than 70 % of families in Indian society today are nuclear and 11% are single members.
Lack of time due to busy lifestyle and changing consumption patterns have led to an increase in the demand for processed, ready-to-cook, and ready-to-eat food, so there is an attempt to use healthy fats/oils,whole grains, fibre, sodium alternatives for the increasingly health-conscious customers today without compromising on taste. Sadly there still is an absence of validated quality standards and procedures.

02 June, 2010 | Kanika Jain | Reply

As aptly written in the article, convenience foods do offer us advantage like time saving, but, along with it, lot of preservatives, sodium and hydrogenated fat too. One needs to carefully read the labels before buying such foods. Also, one should go in for fresh fruits and vegetables and cereals, milk and milk products rather than convenience food whenever possible.

regards,
Kanika Jain
Dietitian
NutritionVista

29 May, 2010 | Kanika Jain | Reply

Hi Rajshree,
NutritionVista team appreciates your effort.Our taste for salt is acquired, so we can learn to enjoy less. As experienced by you too, after few weeks of cutting back on salt, we probably won't miss it, and some foods may even taste too salty to us! Other common foodstuffs like soy sauce, ketchups, poppadoms all contain sodium, which can be easily avoided to check on sodium intake.

Regards,
Kanika Jain
Dietitian
NutritionVista

29 May, 2010 | Rajshree | Reply

Hi NutritionVista team,
I was habitual of adding table salt to salads and raitas.When I read this article..I decided to avoid salt in both for few days.Surprisingly,my salads and raitas still tasted wonderful..as mentioned in article,its just the matter of taste buds..thank you for making people aware of little things that can make HEALTHY difference in their lives..

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