Wellness experts are always talking about how eating out is more damaging to your health. Studies show that takeaways and restaurant meals are higher in calories and lower in micronutrients such as iron, calcium, and vitamin C, so – by that logic – it must be healthier to cook at home, right? Not according to new research, which has found that it may be time to shelve your favourite cookbook, or you could develop serious health concerns.
For the study, the researchers looked into how “home-cooked” meals created by celebrity chefs compared to prepared meals sold in local supermarkets in terms of having an impact on your wellbeing. 100 supermarket meals (randomly chosen store-brands from the three biggest supermarket chains in the UK) were compared with 100 main meal recipes (with items from two or more food groups) created by UK-based TV chefs. The lucky cookbooks chosen were Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals and Ministry of Food, Lorraine Pascale’s Baking Made Easy, Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Everyday.
The researchers aimed to answer the question “Is one type of meal or the other healthier?” by looking at the nutritional content of the recipes and meals. This included an analysis of the total calories, protein, carbohydrates, sugar, sodium, fat, saturated fat, and fibre found in each dish, using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) dietary guidelines and the British Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidelines as nutritional standards for comparison. Although there are a few differences in the two sets of guidelines, they both give the breakdown of calorie percentages that should come from fat, protein, and carbohydrates, and set daily limits on salt, cholesterol, and saturated fat.
While you’d think that at least one dish would make the cut, not a single ready meal or recipe met all of the WHO guidelines. However, the more surprising result was that the chef-created recipes appeared to be less healthy than the store-bought meals. Typically, the recipes were higher in calories and lower in fibre, albeit meeting the FSA guideline of less than 0.6 grams of sodium per 100 grams of food, which the ready meals did not accomplish. Still, it’s important to bear in mind the researchers’ point that WHO standards are based on average intake over time rather than individual meals, and they only used these standards because of the lack of other international criteria on which to base their study.
So why does it matter? Wellness experts assert that celebrity chefs have a massive influence on the foods we eat, and are arguably contributing to the British obesity epidemic. Obesity can increase your risk of all kinds of chronic health concerns, such as heart disease and diabetes, to name a few. Does this mean you need to stock up on ready meals to ensure your wellbeing? Perish the thought! It’s important to take these study results with a grain of salt – but no more than that or you’ll go over the FSA guidelines! While the top TV chefs and their cookbooks may tend towards the unhealthy, this isn’t the case for all recipes and cookbooks.
Plus, ready meals are no nutritional superstars even if they appear to be healthier in some respects. The study researchers did not consider vitamins, minerals and additives in their evaluation, so the nutritional picture presented isn’t so complete. And, no, the answer isn’t to go out for dinner every night either, as another recent study has shown that eating away from home is linked with a higher calorie and fat intake, and lower micronutrient consumption. Just think about your meals, be they microwaved or created out of a recipe book, and make healthy choices.
