Don't Believe The Hype! (Or New Year's Step 4: Why You Should Eat More Meals At Home)

As I was reading through the latest issue of the Journal of The American Dietetic Association (Volume 110, No.1), I came across an article with this catchy title: The Accuracy of Stated Energy Contents of Reduced-Energy, Commercially Prepared Foods. Translation: does a “healthy” frozen, fast food or restaurant meal that advertises how many calories it contains really have the amount of calories it says it does? Well, a bunch of researchers tested in the laboratory various food from chain restaurants, fast food joints and frozen meals to see if the calories that are actually in the meals matched was what being advertised. I’ve had my doubts about things I order from restaurants and now I have the evidence that the advertised nutrition info cannot always be trusted!

What were the worst offenders?

1. Beware the drive thru diet – Taco Bell’s Express Chicken Taco Salad had a whopping 86% more calories than advertised. Claim: 280 calories. Actual: 607 calories!
2. P.F. Chang’s Sichuan-Style Asparagus had 115% more calories than listed. Claim: 200 calories. Actual: 558 calories. That’s right – over twice the calories you thought you were getting from a healthy vegetable!
3. Even Lean Cuisine is not safe. Their frozen Shrimp and Angel Hair Pasta has 28% more calories than on the label. Actual: 319 calories. Claim: 220 calories.

So what’s a person to do? The very best thing you can do is to eat more real food. Instead of relying on nutrition information provided by corporations who want to sell you on the tastiness and healthfulness of their products, try preparing more food yourself. Instead of purchasing the frozen shrimp and pasta dinner, why not boil a measured portion of pasta, fix your own shrimp and make a tasty sauce where you control the ingredients. The nutrition information on single packaged foods (like pasta, milk, chicken breast, etc) is very reliable and you will be better able to know exactly what you are eating. Plus, you avoid all the extra sodium, fat and preservatives that are found in prepackaged and fast food or restaurant meals.

Of course, we are all going to eat out at restaurants and rely on convenience foods sometimes. It is unreasonable to cut these out of your diet entirely. But cutting back on how often you eat these foods, particularly if you are relying on the nutrition information provided to control your calorie intake, can go a long way toward helping you keep those healthy New Year’s resolutions.