Eat
The truth about ready meals
After a long and tiring day, reaching into the fridge for a ready meal might be much more appealing than preparing a meal from scratch. There’s no denying that ready meals are quick, easy and often pretty cheap. But do they provide the nutrients your body needs to live well? Here, I explain what you need to know about ready meals and share my tips for keeping them as healthy as possible.
Are ready meals bad for you?
Did you know that in the UK, 2 in 5 adults eat ready meals every week? There are many reasons why you might opt for a ready meal over a home-cooked one. Perhaps you don’t have time to cook, or live on your own and don’t feel motivated. Maybe you don’t know how to cook or just don’t enjoy it.
Whatever your reasons, ready meals aren’t always as nutritious as cooking a meal from scratch. This is because they don’t always provide your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy.
Ready meals can be high in salt and fat and low in other nutrients. Eating foods high in calories may cause you to put on weight. And too much salt in your diet is linked to high blood pressure. So, if you eat foods high in salt and fat often, you may increase your risk of health problems like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Are some ready meals healthier than others?
Many supermarkets and food companies now have their own range of ‘healthier’ ready meals as an alternative to traditional ready meals. These may be lower in calories, fat, salt and sugar.
Some supermarkets also have a premium range of their own-brand ready meals. But, while these may taste better, they might not be any better for your health. In fact, a few studies have found that premium supermarket ready meals tend to be higher in calories, fat and salt than ‘value’ ready meals.
How to make ready meals healthier
Get to know your labels
In the UK, a traffic light food labelling system is used on the front of some food packaging. This is done to show you the nutritional content of different ready meals, so you can make healthier choices. It lists, for example, the amount of calories, fat, salt and sugar in the food. These are categorised as either red, amber or green. This helps you see whether a food or drink is a healthier choice.
- Green = low amount in the food or drink.
- Amber = medium amount in the food or drink.
- Red = high amount in the food or drink.
The ingredients list on the back of packaging also appears in order of quantity. So, if fat, salt and sugar are listed high up in the ingredients, this means that the product contains a lot of these.
Check that the nutritional information relates to the serving size you’re going to eat as well. For example, the label may display calories per 100g, but the product might weigh 120g. So double check the portion you’ll actually be eating and adjust your calculations if you need to.
Add a side of fresh vegetables or salad
One of the easiest ways to make any meal healthier is to include at least one portion of fresh vegetables or salad. This also helps to boost the nutritional content of a ready meal. Or try adding frozen food such as peas, sweetcorn and spinach to your meal. You could also buy a portion of fresh fruit to have for dessert.
Quick and easy healthy meal ideas
Cooking a healthy meal may take less time than you think. The internet is packed with lots of quick and easy nutritious recipes, and can be a great source of cooking inspiration for mealtimes. Choose meals that don’t need lots of ingredients, and keep it simple by using frozen or pre-chopped vegetables.
There are also lots of helpful tips online for eating healthily if you don’t like cooking, or don’t feel in the mood to cook.
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Sources Sources
- Foods and drinks high in fat, salt and sugars. British Nutrition Foundation. www.nutrition.org, accessed 9 March 2022
- Fruit and vegetables – how to get five-a-day. British Dietetic Association. www.bda.uk.com, accessed March 2022
- Food labelling: nutrition information. British Dietetic Association. www.bda.uk.com, accessed March 2022
- Healthy eating and drinking (including management of obesity). Diabetes Care: A Practical Manual. Oxford Medicine Online. oxfordmedicine.com, published April 2015
- Ready meals 2020 snapshot survey. Eating better. www.eatingbetter.org, published July 2020
- Howard S, Adams J & White M. Nutritional content of supermarket ready meals and recipes by television chefs in the United Kingdom: cross sectional study. BMJ 2012; 345
- Remnant J & Adams J. The nutritional content and cost of supermarket ready-meals. Cross-sectional analysis. Appetite 92; 36-42
- Celnik D, Gillespie L & Lean MEJ. Time-scarcity, ready-meals, ill health and the obesity epidemic. Trends in Food Science & Technology 2012; 27(1):4-11
- Bernard Srour et al. Ultra-processed food intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: prospective cohort study (NutriNet-Santé). BMJ 2019;365:l1451. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l1451
- An analysis of the nutritional value of UK supermarket ready meals. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society (2020), 79 (OCE3), E794. doi:10.1017/S0029665120007806
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