How Healthy Are Lean Cuisines Frozen Dinner

From LoveToKnow Diet

If you are looking for healthy, convenient diet menu options you may be asking yourself, "How healthy are Lean Cuisine frozen dinner entrees?" If so, you are not the only one. These frozen meals promise to be low in fat, low in carbs, and they easily fit in with a variety of weight loss programs. However, nutritionists agree these dinners fall far short of their claims. Here's a look at just how healthy are Lean Cuisine frozen dinner entrees.

Lean Cuisine.

Just How Healthy Are Lean Cuisines Frozen Dinner?

Most Lean Cuisines contain between 200 and 400 calories. This does not seem like very much at all for an entire meal. However, ask any patron of Lean Cuisine and they can tell you the meals are very tiny. Nutritionists say that the dinners are small for the amount of calories they contain, and what's more is that they have very little nutrients. This means that the meals are packed with empty calories – calories from ingredients like sugars, salts and white breads. These calories are non-nutritious and do not fill you up.

This is detrimental for two reasons. One is that after you eat your so-called meal, you'll still be hungry and eat more. This can cause you to deviate from the amount of planned calories you may have scheduled for the day if you're on a diet. Secondly, these meals are very expensive for the amount of nutrients they contain. You're paying a high price for a meal that will not fill you up. This is especially concerning during these hard economic times.

Another concern with prepackaged foods is freshness. Research has shown that people benefit from a diet full of fresh foods. Also, like many prepackaged foods, Lean Cuisines contain several ingredients that are just not healthy for you. They are full of food coloring, preservatives, and other chemicals. If you look at the list of ingredients there will surely be a few that you cannot even pronounce. Scientists are finding a greater and greater correlation between ingredients like these and cancers and other life threatening illnesses.

Yet another disadvantage of Lean Cuisines is the sodium content. It is especially important to manage your salt content if you're concerned about water weight gain or heart problems. While it's not that horrible to have a little more salt than is good for you now and then, a single Lean Cuisine meal often has an entire day’s allowance of sodium in it!

Based on the above information, Lean Cuisines are not the healthiest options for your consumption. Unfortunately, the cons of these meals do not stop there.

Danger of Lean Cuisines

In 2008 the USDA recalled several thousand Lean Cuisine meals because they were found to contain foreign objects that could pose a deadly choking risk. The recall applied to their chicken and pasta meals. At least one consumer was injured from a small piece of plastic found in one of the meals.

Alternative Options

There are healthier frozen meals, some even made with organic ingredients, that are better choices than Lean Cuisines. However, frozen meals by definition are not your best options. If you purchase frozen dinners for the convenience factor, consider these quick and easy alternatives instead:

Sandwiches: Purchase some bread, meat, cheese and veggies and you can have yourself a fresh, balanced and healthy lunch in a matter of minutes.
Soups: Soups are hearty and contain a lot of liquid, which will make you feel full. Most also contain a good amount of vegetables.
Leftovers: They're healthier than processed frozen foods and all you have to do is put some leftovers on a plate and zap them in the microwave.

Lean Cuisines are not your best options for lunches, dinners or diet foods. They simply are not healthy and most definitely not worth your hard earned money.

Retrieved from "http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/How_Healthy_Are_Lean_Cuisines_Frozen_Dinner"