9 – Ready meals create additional weight
It’s easy to pull a premade dinner out of the fridge at the end of a hectic day – but if you’re over 50, it could be one of the worst things you could do for your health.
Ready meals can be calorie bombs – and if you consistently consume high calorie items, you’re likely to put on weight, particularly as you age. Once you turn 50, your metabolism is slower than it was in your 20’3, 30’s and even 40’s — making it difficult to lose weight and easier to put it on.
This isn’t fantastic news because extra weight can develop to obesity, which puts you at a considerably increased risk of numerous dangerous ailments. But weight gain isn’t the only damage consuming ready meals can wreak on your health, as they’re laden with salt, sugar, artificial sweeteners and saturated fat. Many of them also lack a suitable amount of fibre, vitamins and minerals.
All that salt can dramatically boost your blood pressure, imposing a burden on your heart – one study revealed that eating 5 grams more salt per day than the recommended threshold of 6 grams, ups your risk of cardiovascular disease by a whooping 17%!
The saturated fat that so many ready meals are loaded with can clog arteries, leading to atherosclerosis, which can end in a heart attack or stroke. There are ready meals on the shelf that promise to be healthier but this isn’t typically the case – many so-called “healthy meals” contain artificial sweeteners to replace the sugar and salt and improve the taste.
Research linked artificial sweeteners like sucralose with a lengthy number of health concerns, including metabolic syndrome and cancer.
It’s best to avoid reaching for ready meals if you can – switching them for healthier snacks like almonds when you’re on the go, or cooking from scratch at home. This doesn’t take as much time as you think and you may keep things as basic as you wish. Why not search for some delectable meal ideas to whip up at home in minutes, as the internet offers fantastic inspiration for healthy, quick dishes?