What is it with ready meals?

[drax83]

I been on here a long time, IBS diverticular & hiarus hernia. I often have problem food problems I keep off fried stuff onion rings pasta etcI cooked me and wife nice steak ale pie fresh chips done in airfryer, along with boiled carrots on the hob. So why have I got grumbling tummy, do bits of poop with bits in it, a light cramping and windy I think it may be the Waitrose chicken korma and rice ready meal I had midday. But a fresh cooked curry from our chinese has almost no consequences. Why do meals, which aren't cheap seem to cause no end of IBS symptoms. I even oven cooked it for a better experience.

Any clever people tell me why a Chinese delivered curry has no effect, but a small factory made curry causes me a flare up and uncomfortable?? 😢😢😢😕

[Luisa22]

Maybe because the Chinese is properly cooked with pretty good ingredients. Is it a family business? If so, they might stick to traditional foods, cooked in a traditional way on the premises?

Ready meals....what can I say? Those are factory produced, most likely lack a lot of nutrients, and will have additives, preservatives and unpronounceable chemical words in their ingredients list. Maybe it's some ingredients that your tummy hates. Not just the curry or spices etc.

You are luckier than me by the sound of it, in that you can go near ANY foods like that at all. In order to keep a semblance of peace in my belly I have to eat a lot of plain and simple home cooked food, basically protein simply cooked, veggies and carbs with not much in the way of embellishments except sea salt.

But what suits us does differ with IBS.

[drax83 in reply to Luisa22]

Yes our long time Chinese is family owned. Thanks for reply, our food seems nothing like what it was after the covid

[Luisa22 in reply to drax83]

If I were you, I'd stick with the local Chinese. They must be making good food ! This is making me hungry already. haha.

I'd give ready meals a miss. Though I suppose you could check the ingredients list of any that you tried and got bad results from, just to see if you can narrow down any additive or ingredient that doesn't work for your gut. Hard to do that, but you could compare with any other foods that don't suit you and see if those have the same ingredients.

I managed to do that with chocolate, and isolated one additive that I have to steer clear of, so I always buy brands that don't contain it and I'm fine that way.

[BabsyWabsy]

Interesting. I have looked up this product and it contains none of the preservatives or emulsifiers that you might expect. If you are sensitive to dairy/lactose, it does contain a lot of dairy products, as well as cashews and coconut, with a 'may contain' for peanuts. It actually contains ingredients and spices you might use at home. As ready meals go, this is a good one. Of course the processing is different, and the Waitrose curry will be retorted (cooked in the pack in a big pressure cooker after the curry has been made so that it has a good shelf life) which you are unlikely to do at home. Anything in this list that you may be sensitive to?

[drax83 in reply to BabsyWabsy]

It may be spices, you don't see the actual spices in a Chinese takewy curry. Ready meals tend to have cardomon and bits of other dark spices. Also some are embedded in the rice that comes with it. I'll just keep clear of them🙄🙄

[BabsyWabsy]

Fair enough. Some people do struggle with them. My Mum only had to see a speck of paprika to have a reaction. Given your handle, are you a Yorkshire man?

[drax83 in reply to BabsyWabsy]

Haha😅 no I'm a Sussex boy bred and born in sunny Eastbourne. And I miss my sun up north here near Manchester it's diabolical fog and gloom most of the winter. But wife has plenty of relations still in Richmond near Catterick 😊

[drax83 in reply to drax83]

I name is after Mr Drax from moonraker film👀

[BabsyWabsy]

Ha, nice one. I haven't seen a Bond film in decades. Drax village is not far from me and I have a friend who has worked at the power station for 25 years. Cloudy and grey here, no fog, yet.

[cj20uk]

It maybe the rice. In a ready meal the rice is cooled then reheated which makes it a resistant starch which can affect people with intestional issues. This gives you more information

cuh.nhs.uk/patient-informat...

[Smithcat]

Ready meals always cause problems for me because they nearly always include onions - one of the biggest triggers for IBS.

[redmaggie]

Hi there, I can no longer eat supermarket ready meals - whether the "finest" ranges or the standard. In fact the expensive versions are worse ! they are too rich and overflavoured and I get terrible gut symptoms. Home cooking is fine as long as I avoid a lot of onions. Now I batch cook things like pasta sauce and shepherds pies and pop some in the freezer.

[drax83 in reply to redmaggie]

Thanks Maggie at least I'm not the only one😎