No, provided you choose raw products, in other words the least cooked possible. So, it is always better to buy a canned (or a frozen sachet) of green beans and pan-fry them yourself with a drizzle of olive oil, rather than opting for a ready-made version such as frozen “local pan-fried” or “southern-style beans” sous vide, which already includes an addition of fat, thickeners, sometimes sugar. Therefore prefer natural preserves (vegetables, tuna…), frozen vegetable packets, frozen or brick soups (provided that the fat content does not exceed 5 g of lipids/100 g of product), uncooked meat, poultry and fish (salmon fillet, turkey cutlet, etc.).
Beware of commercial ready meals!
Whether lightened or not, some cooked dishes remain too fatty. This is why it is always necessary to examine their nutritional composition.
Starches: pasta with sauce, seasoned rice, dauphine potatoes… The fat content must not exceed 5% of the product.
Meat and fish: meatballs, Bordeaux-style fish, etc. Make sure the product contains more than protein than lipids.
Very elaborate dishes: pizza, chili con carne, paella… The amount of fat must not exceed 15-18 g and the product must contain at least 20 g of protein for a portion of 300-400 g.
Why avoid them?
Because they are not always of good quality, but also because you don’t necessarily know what’s inside. Not even in branded products for that matter, if we are to believe the recent affair of the horse meat. Especially since some accumulate bad points: palm oil and other fats to avoid, various additives, lack of fiber and protective and slimming nutrients, proteins of poor quality and in often low quantity… It is almost impossible to lose weight without cooking yourself. The further one moves away from simple, natural food, the more complicated it is to control what one swallows. On the other hand, nobody prevents you from using frozen vegetables, meats and other fish, as long as they are natural.
Health claims are not so reliable
Water richer in calcium to “strengthen your bones”, yoghurts rich in probiotics to “improve your transit”, cereals with an iron rate “which makes you stronger”… These enriched products now replace water source or simple yoghurt at the top of the gondola. The food industry has found a mission of choice: to fill our deficiencies with a lot of vitamins, omega 3 or magnesium. And yet… “It’s been proven, insists nutritionist Jean-Michel Cohen*, a woman or a man who eats a varied diet and absorbs 1,200 and 1,400 calories respectively per day does not suffer from any deficiency. Most super food products therefore have no place. With half a teaspoon of rapeseed oil a day, we meet all our omega 3 needs. That’s how gorging on omega 3 eggs is a mistake. Health claims only confuse consumers. »