Do you want to eat healthily, but don’t have enough time to dedicate to preparing home-cooked meals all the time? Well it’s worth knowing that this doesn’t mean you have to order burgers or Indian take-out all the time. There are some very simple and useful things you should know if you want to eat right without having to spend hours at the stove.
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Is frozen food good for your health?
People often believe that nothing is better than fresh vegetables. However, frozen vegetables do have the same nutritional benefits as fresh vegetables. As it turns out, what changes a vegetable’s properties and benefits isn’t just peeling, cutting, cooking or storing them. What really makes vegetables less ‘healthy’ is the way that they are cooked. If they are cooked or prepared with a lot of fat and added sugars, they lose practically all their nutritional benefits.
Therefore, as long as frozen vegetables don’t contain too much salt, sugar or fatty substances and are kept at temperatures of around -18°C, their nutritional qualities will be the same as fresh alternatives.
Eating a healthy diet that includes frozen food
Frozen food has the great advantages of being quite diverse, reasonably priced and easy to use. Quite often, the products are already peeled, cleaned and cut up, which means all you need to do is cook them. A great way to save a lot of time!
To eat healthily, you need to plan well-balanced meals. Your meals should be made up of about 2/3 vegetables and 1/3 plant or animal proteins.
Therefore, you should buy frozen vegetables, meat or fish and either steam them or cook them in a pan for a tasty meal without needing a lot of planning in advance.
However, you should watch out for products that have been ‘pan-fried’ as they are often high in calories! This isn’t ideal if you’re trying to stick to a healthy diet. They are obviously delicious, but should only be eaten occasionally.
In conclusion, frozen vegetables are an excellent alternative if you’re trying to eat healthily and don’t have lots of time to spend cooking!