Heart-Healthy Frozen Meals

Frozen meals have come a long way from the TV dinners of the 1950s. Several national brands offer heart-healthy, low-fat, low-sodium frozen meals. Many organic food stores, and organic sections in supermarkets, carry organic and vegetarian frozen meals, and with a bit of searching you can also find frozen ethnic dinners. Some gourmet shops make and freeze selections of their own specialities.

GUIDELINES

For a heart-healthy diet, according to the Mayo Clinic, you should limit unhealthy fats and cholesterol, eat whole rather than refined grains, reduce sodium, avoid overeating, and increase your consumption of fruit and vegetables. The average daily diet should not exceed 2,000 calories. This amount may be higher or lower depending on factors such as age, gender and lifestyle.

NUTRITION LABELS

One way to select a heart-healthy frozen dinner is to read labels. The first item on the nutrition label of a frozen dinner is total calories. Look carefully to see how many calories per serving there are and the number of servings in a package. You will also see percentage of calories from fat. The lower this number, the better. Types of fat calories listed include those from cholesterol, trans fat and saturated fat, all of which should be minimized. Your total fat intake should be 56 to 78 g per day on a 2,000 calorie-a-day diet. The next ingredients are fiber, of which adults need 25 to 35 g; and protein, 46 to 56 g per day.

HEART-CHECK LABELS

If you don't have time or energy to read labels, there is a short cut. The American Heart Association has worked with food retailers to create the "heart-check" mark, a red heart-shaped label that certifies a food to have met the AHA nutritional criteria. Foods labeled with this mark are low in total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, trans fat and sodium, and contain at least 10 percent of the daily value of one or more important nutrients.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Frozen meals don't always have enough fruits and vegetables. If you don't have time to cook, be creative. Choose a low-calorie frozen dinner and pick up a piece of fresh fruit or a prepared salad to accompany it. Options in the frozen food aisle include plain frozen fruits and vegetables. Keep a container of frozen broccoli or asparagus on hand and microwave a handful to eat with your frozen dinner; or try frozen berries straight out of the package for a healthy dessert.

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REFERENCES

• Mayo Clinic: Heart-healthy Diet: 8 Steps to Prevent Heart Disease
• American Heart Association: Reading Food Nutrition Labels
• CDC: Nutrition for Everyone: Protein
• American Heart Association: Heart-Check Mark