Are fresh vegetables always better? How “fresh” are frozen vegetables? Convenient, but are they nutritious, or not?

There are a lot of questions out there about fresh vs. frozen. Since frozen options came available in the 1950s, they have added convenience to the nightly dinner routine with often times lower cost. With our modern day schedules, convenience is definitely a major factor in deciding what’s for dinner! There is no denying the convenience of frozen food, but are you sacrificing vital nutrients for this luxury?

Is fresh better?

It is only natural to think that fresh vegetables are better; and over time there has been a stigma placed on their frozen counterparts that leads you to feel almost guilty when using the frozen options. Well, let me tell you fresh isn’t always better.

I’ll give you one word… food mileage (I guess that’s two words, but one concept). Most vegetables do not grow, in abundance or at all, in your home state or country. This means your food has to travel from the place of harvest to the supermarket, which can take days and often weeks. As soon as the produce is harvested, it is cut off from its nutrient source and during transportation time is not the only concern, because it’s exposed to things like heat, light, and oxygen; which naturally starts to break down the vegetable, degrading the nutrient content.

To drive this point home even further I’m sure most people would be surprised to know that according to a Joy Rickman’s research that was published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, peas lose over half of their vitamin C within 48 hours of being harvested. Now think of the time it takes to get to your shelves and then sits in your fridge.

How Fresh Are Frozen Vegetables?

Usually the vegetables are frozen right after they are harvested. They are washed and peeled (if necessary) then blanched (which means it was put in boiling water for a short amount of time to help remove dirt, bacteria, and pesticides while preserving the freshness of the crop). While blanching does cause the vegetable to lose a little bit of the nutritional make-up, it does protect and ‘lock in’ vital micronutrients and antioxidants.

It’s important to remember that freezing produce only preserves the vitamins and nutrients that are already in the plant. The quality of the vegetable that you start off with depends on several factors including: the soil, environment, and how it was harvested.

The final verdict

In summary, if you can buy local, you are insuring that you are getting the freshest produce available and that kind of freshness cannot be replaced (check out this blog post 5 Reasons to Buy Local). However, if you are purchasing produce at your average supermarket then frozen is likely just as good, if not better, and it’s more affordable, easier to prepare, creates less waste.

With time and expense being the two biggest culprits in sabotaging a new health venture you might have just found your answered prayer!

Don’t forget if you want to learn more about how to be healthy and look great with ease then sign up to get free goodies I only share through e-mail by clicking here.