Blue Zone frozen food is delicious and healthy, but expensive

• The Blue Zones Diet is known for promoting longevity with nutritious home-cooked meals.
• I thought the new frozen version made healthy eating more convenient and delicious.
• However, at about $8 each, it’s a little pricey for the small amount.

Several the world’s healthiest people We live off home-cooked meals based on cherished recipes that have been passed down through generations. But if you don’t have a Greek or Sardinian grandmother to cook you spicy food; bean stew Packed with fresh herbs, there may still be hope for your diet.

The people who spread the word to the world.‘Blue Zone’ – Longevity Hotspot Healthy aging is second nature, so we’ve developed a range of ready-to-eat meals inspired by the Blue Zones diet. Their new meal is called the Blue Zone Kitchen Bowl. A minimally processed, healthy dinner that can be prepared in the microwave in about 3 minutes.

“While we love to see people cooking at home, the next best thing is eating a carefully crafted, whole-food, plant-based diet for longevity.” Dan BuettnerHe told Business Insider he has been researching life in blue zones for 20 years. “Most of the time, these frozen foods come with sauce on them, and the sauce is like crack. It’s usually loaded with sodium, sugar, and flavor enhancers, but people don’t want to go under this delicious sauce. I don’t really care what’s in it.”

His new meals have no added sugar or artificial ingredients, and each meal is packed with essential nutrients for a blue zone diet.

Can these rock-hard frozen bowls that are “built to last” compete with healthy home-cooked meals? We were skeptical, but it convinced us on all counts except one important point.

what’s on the menu

I tried all four Blue Zone meals.

• Okinawa’s Sesame ginger bowl With carrots, edamame, brown rice, and chickpeas — 240 calories, 11 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber

• Sardinian minestrone casserole With tomatoes, red beans, wheat pasta, chickpeas, and carrots — 280 calories, 11 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber

• costa rica burrito bowl With corn, black beans, sweet potatoes, and jalapeños — 290 calories, 11 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber

• southern Heirloom bowl With Kale, Tomato, Red Bean, Sweet Potato, and Carolina Gold Rice — 310 calories, 10 g protein, 7 g fiber

amazingly delicious

To my surprise, these bowls tasted like real food. I was able to identify herbs, vegetables, and whole grains to use when cooking at home. The heirloom bowl is garnished with fresh bell peppers, while the sesame ginger bowl is served with crunchy, bright green edamame and a creamy, warming sauce packed with spices, perfect for cold winter days. I did.

“The most important factor is taste,” Buettner said. He claimed that these bowls are made with a “maniacal focus” on deliciousness above all else. “There are no magic foods. ‘Eat this this week and you’ll live longer!’ “No, that won’t work. Eat the right foods to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and gastrointestinal cancer. and avoid the wrong foods for long periods of time.”

So you actually have to do something like this like your healthy food. The flavor of a plant-based meal should be as smooth as a slice of fatty meat, or as appealing as a gooey, cheesy casserole.

I was surprised by the high fiber content, which is unusual for a frozen food.

For packaged meals, Blue Zones products are well-balanced in macronutrients and pack 6-7 grams of fiber, or about 20-25% of your daily recommended intake. It also contains 10 to 11 grams of plant-based protein and 240 to 310 calories per serving.

The trend is for processed foods to tout protein as a selling point, giving them an aura of what nutritionists call a “circle of health,” which typically includes: Doesn’t contain much fiber.Less than 10% of Americans eat enough fiber This is important for keeping you full and helps control blood sugar levels.

Foods that can be cooked in the microwave are good for your health

For decades, Buettner blue zone This method is meant to persuade Americans to cook more natural, high-fiber foods and incorporate less sexy ingredients. Beans and vegetables are rich in nutrients that can help you stay healthy as you age, and can be avoided or even avoided. Reverse – some of the most prevalent chronic diseases.

Blue Zones frozen meals may be a stepping stone for people who want to eat healthier but don’t have time to chop or boil. Herbs and vegetables that promote longevity at home.

It may sound surprising, but Frozen food is still healthy.

“We see the frozen category as a great place to use active refrigeration in place of all preservatives,” Abby Coleman, COO of Blue Zones Kitchen, told Business Insider. Told. “So you can take a very home-grown approach and don’t need any chemicals or additives.”

Cons: $8 is a lot for a meal at home

One problem we found with these meals is that they are small in quantity and expensive. At $6-$8 a cup, I’d love to have just one more cup of beans in my lunch box. (Full disclosure, we were given a complimentary sample from Blue Zones Kitchen, but it’s hard to imagine frozen dinners with such a price tag, especially with competition from packaged food manufacturers like Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice.) (If I had, I’d probably stop at the grocery store) about half that amount. )

Coleman says part of the reason for the added cost is because the ingredients in these bowls are premium and are intended to provide the most delicious frozen food experience.

“I spent a lot of time on kale to get kale that didn’t have big ribs or a hard texture. It had to be soft,” she said. “I tasted about half a dozen different types of black beans until I found the right one, which was creamy and had an incredibly blue-black color. It’s a beautiful bean, but I had to find it.”

our takeout

I might not be able to do it though Cut out all processed foods If you eat less, collect your own herbs, and ditch your car for a Sardinian shepherd, there may be room for compromise.

The new Blue Zone Kitchen food provided a hybrid sweet spot between the standard American lifestyle and the Blue Zone idyll. Sometimes it’s okay to take shortcuts for convenience and stay healthy at the cost.

But if you can spend a little more time in your home kitchen, you can reap the same benefits without hurting your wallet as much.