Members of the military have a new, high-tech way to pick out the right meal for them -- and hopefully enjoy it more.
The Department of Defense created the website called Combat Rations Database (ComRaD) in an effort to give service members more choices when it comes to selecting what to eat for their MREs, or “meal ready to eat.”
The site offers a pull down menu that shows service members the calorie count and nutritional content of pre-packaged military meals. The choices can be made on a desktop computer or on a cellphone.
Veteran Jason Byrd said he thought it was a good idea. “I think it would be useful for some people,” he told NBC 7.
In each option like spaghetti or chicken pesto pasta, the website lists the total number of calories, sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat, transfat, vitamins and other nutritional items for the whole meal. Keep in mind, troops in combat need more calories than the average person.
Having a variety of things to eat rather than the same MRE all the time can give a person different kinds of benefits, according to Vickie Nickerson, a personal trainer and owner of Envision Personalized Fitness.
She thinks showing service members what is inside a meal so that they can choose what to eat makes good dietary sense.
“I think the more educated you are about what you are putting in your mouth is only going to help you with your health,” said Nickerson. “Then you can make the better choices for that.”
