There is nothing wrong with wanting to eat a quick salami sandwich for breakfast instead of preparing a whole nutritious spread. Frozen peas and vegetables are easier and more convenient to use than vegetables bought from the store, as they need to be chopped up before cooking.
Everyone tries to choose the easy way out, but do you realise what lies beyond your choice of frozen foods over fresh ones?
In this article, we try to explain the risk factors and harmful effects of frozen foods.
Here are a few harmful effects of consuming frozen foods on a regular basis. At the end of the day, the only solution is to choose your health over convenience, so you can lead a healthier life.
Increased Risk of Diabetes
According to The Times of India, starch is used in various frozen foods to keep the taste and structure intact. It is a polymer and a part of the glucose chain. Excess amounts of starch, when consumed, can cause harmful effects on the body and tissues. The starch is converted into sugar before it is digested.
Starch can be harmful to diabetic people and it also raises the blood sugar level in normal people. Therefore, it is advisable to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and avoid eating frozen foods if diabetes runs in your family.
Harmful to the Heart
According to Healthline, frozen foods and processed foods contain more sugar, salt, and trans fat than whole or fresh food and they also lack the nutritional fiber and vitamins required by the body. These foods tend to increase LDL and blood pressure.
An increase in blood pressure clogs the arteries and poses risk for strokes, heart attack, and other cardiovascular diseases, and there is an almost 10% increased risk in people who consume such foods on a daily basis.
Obesity and Weight Gain Problems
According to the NCBI, consumption of processed, readymade, or frozen foods is associated directly with obesity and weight gain. These foods are high in calories; frozen chicken pot may contain 600 calories, half of which comes from fat and is more than attained from fresh meat.
Obesity is an epidemic and the unhealthy eating pattern and dietary changes over the years have been fueling this issue. Such patterns can also cause childhood obesity, especially in the abdominal area.
Less Nutritional Value
According to PubMed Central, there is not much difference in the overall nutritional value of the fresh and frozen foods because both their nutrients are lost while storage.
But if we talk about frozen foods, vitamins are lost during their processing and certain frozen foods are shelved for a year or more, by which time the nutrients begin to break down and add no value to your diet.
Some nutrients are also lost in the blanching process; the nutrients lost range from 30% to 80% and 50% in general, depending on the types of foods and the time for which they were being blanched.
Increases the Blood pressure
According to the US NIH, a high amount of sodium is used in frozen foods to preserve them for a longer time. One slice of pizza contains 700 mg of salt; it is used because of the salty taste palette of people and can be used as an appetizer and preservative (since it is cheap and easily available).
High levels of sodium results in bad cholesterol (LDL), which in turn causes high blood pressure. You can either choose frozen foods like fruits and vegetables with lesser salt or replace the salt with Himalayan salt at home since it is less harmful to the body.
Cancer-Causing Ingredients
According to a report by NDTV, frozen foods have the potential to increase the risk of cancer, especially pancreatic cancer. Frozen foods like meat, salamis, and nuggets have a higher risk and they increase the chances of cancer by 65%.
The underlying cause is the corn syrup found in this food which is from the family of glucose and possesses carcinogenic tendencies as well (meaning the ability to cause cancer).
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)