• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Dream Dinners Supports National Heart Month By Serving Up a Low-Fat, Heart Healthy Menu

Posted on: Monday, 29 January 2007, 12:00 CST

Every year, heart disease takes the lives of more Americans than cancer, lung disease, accidents and diabetes combined. Many find it challenging to adopt convenient, healthy alternatives to fast food that people often choose when rushed. Dream Dinners, the originator of the innovative, meal assembly concept, offers a healthy alternative to those "not so healthy" choices facing people every day. During February, for National Heart Month, all items on February's menu meet or exceed the National Cholesterol Education Program's Heart Healthy standards, also recognized by the American Heart Association.

"I treat many patients who know it's important to eat a diet low in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol, but find it challenging to do so consistently," said Dr. Maryann McLaughlin, cardiologist and associate professor of medicine and cardiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "Recipes, like those prepared at Dream Dinners that meet or exceed national guidelines, are easy to make, customize and freeze for later use and taste good, are excellent solutions for maintaining a nutritious diet and a healthy heart."

Dream dinners' menu items average 286 calories with 10 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, and 678 milligrams of sodium per serving - significantly lower in calories, fat and sodium than items publicized by its major competitors. "Dream Dinners takes your health seriously, making every effort to use ingredients low in saturated fat and sodium. Using the nutrition information, customers can choose menu items to help reach their health goals," says Cindy Farricker, registered dietitian at Dream Dinners. Leslie Thomson, registered dietitian and Dream Dinners' franchise owner, agrees. "Customers repeatedly report success in weight loss and diabetes management, as well as improved budgeting (as much as 25% savings in grocery dollars), time management and decreased stress."

The benefits of using retail outlets like Dream Dinners are recognized as an easy way to support weight loss in the July/August 2006 issue of Weight Watchers. "Eating homemade is the best way to lose weight, and now it's easier than ever thanks to new meal-prep chains..."

Eating Dream Dinners helped Kim Johnson's 17-year-old son lose 60 pounds. "Shopping and planning to fit his 300 calorie, 30 gram protein, 30 gram carb, low-fat requirements was a nightmare!" says Johnson. "The Dream Dinners website had all the nutrition information broken down by serving. No more weighing, measuring and reading food labels. It has saved me many hours each week." Dream Dinners' guest, Cheri Neyens, appreciates using the nutritional information to calculate her Weight Watchers points.

For Dream Dinners' menus, visit http://dreamdinners.com/main.php?page=ms_previewcurrentmenu.

For additional information about heart health and guidelines, visit www.everydaychoices.org/eat.html, www.americanheart.org, www.sistertosister.org, and www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth.

About Dream Dinners

Dream Dinners, Inc., co-founded in 2002 by Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna, is headquartered in Snohomish, Washington and is the recognized originator of the dinner assembly concept, a fast-growing category in the $170 billion home meal-replacement industry. With a growing network of over 250 franchises in 33 states, and actively seeking more partners, Dream Dinners' mission is to serve others, bring families back to the dinner table with healthy, nutritious, economical and easy-to-fix meals, and provide a venue for giving back to the community. Dream Dinners has doubled its revenue every year since 2002, is ranked 5th fastest-growing on the Franchise 500 and its co-founders were named 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the Pacific Northwest Consumer Product category. For more information, visit www.dreamdinners.com.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category