What do you look at when considering the health status of a meal?

I always look at the amount of saturated and trans fat, and then the amount of fiber. There is always some give and take, but I normally weigh those two amounts against each other before deciding if something is too unhealthy to eat.

by DamienR

I'm a huge fan of balance. I tend to look for a range of vegetables and nutrients rather than fat, sugar etc. I suffer from chronically low iron so the iron content of a meal is always something I keep an eye on. And then it has to be family friendly - I have 2 small children so my idea of "healthy" has to fit in with their idea of "edible" and we usually meet somewhere in the middle!

by lizzi

I consider the following: how close are these ingredients to their natural state?

The closer they are, the more healthy the meal is destined to be!

by Clare Deville

First I look at the list of ingredients, if it is really long with lots of chemically sounding items then I avoid it. Then I look at calories, fat and sugar. I use 10 grams per 100gram serving as a guide.
I don't neccessarily leave out treats but try to chose wisely. Recently I was looking online for some cake recipes for dessert for a family dinner.
I found this lovely looking cake but on inspecting the nutritional values found that each slice had 1000 calories and 60 grams of fat ....ouch !
I sure it would taste Devine but not something my waistline could cope with !
Just always make the best choices possible

by susie

Considering Health status of meal, it is very very importent to give more attention to the food and health. i am looking for mostly organic. i avoid camical food, olive oil is the best oil of other oils, avoid Cholestrol food, taking more vegitables and fish insted of meat. avoiding frozen chicken it is coming from china with injection. many deceses because of camical food. avoid eating suger. these are the imp. day by day routine.

by asha