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4 Ways to Spot a Healthy Frozen Dinner

When it comes to frozen-food choices, the "sky's the limit." Your options range from the simple (such as a meat and potatoes meal) to the gourmet (such as lobster tails). You can practically feed the United Nations with all the ethnic varieties available. If you're on a special diet, no problem. These days you can choose from varieties such as vegetarian, wheat-free, low-fat, low-carb, and more.

Frozen foods have come a long way since Swanson first introduced TV dinners in 1953. Thanks to improvements in food technology, today's frozen meals taste better. However, like many prepared foods, your frozen dinner can either be a healthy choice or a diet disaster. Use the guidelines below to help you make the best choices.

Think energy. If you're consuming three meals a day, then ideally your frozen meal should meet about a third of your daily energy needs. For most people this means selecting a frozen entrée between 300 to 500 calories. If you consume three meals a day and two snacks, then cut back accordingly.

Cut the fat. The federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005, recommends a diet that contains no more than 30 percent of calories from total fat and no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat to promote good health and prevent disease. Choose frozen entrées that don't exceed 15 grams of total fat and five grams of saturated fat.

Hold the salt. Generally, the more processed a food is, the higher the sodium content. Since the American Heart Association advises a sodium limit of 2,400 mg a day for healthy people, look for frozen meals that contain no more than 200 mg of sodium per 100 calories. So, if your frozen dinner contains 400 calories, it should contain no more than 800 mg of sodium.

Balance it out. Toss in some extra vegetables, fruit, and low-fat dairy foods to make your frozen entrée a more complete meal. Frozen foods can be part of a nutritious meal plan, but they don't usually represent a healthy sampling from all the food groups. To balance out your frozen meal, add a salad or some steamed frozen veggies as a side dish; wash it all down with a glass of fat-free milk, and have some fruit for dessert.