Healthy Frozen Produce

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

11 Mar 2008 12:03 PM

Fresh vegetables and fruits are best, right? Only if you eat them as soon as they're picked. As soon as fruits and vegetables are picked, they start to lose nutrients.

So what's better than fresh produce? Frozen produce! Freezing fruits and vegetables slows nutrient loss. Here's an example: fresh broccoli loses more than fifty percent of its vitamin C content in just seven days. Frozen broccoli loses only ten percent of its vitamin C content in a year! Other good news? Some antioxidant and mineral levels actually INCREASE after freezing.

Your best bet for getting the most nutritional impact from your produce is to grow your own and freeze it as soon as you pick it. That will prevent the most nutrient loss. But for many people, growing your own fruits and veggies isn't an option. (Maybe you don't have a yard, maybe you have a black thumb like I do.)

For most people, the easiest way to get frozen produce is at the food store. Like many other foods, vegetables and fruits are graded.

• Grade A fruits and veggies (also known as "fancy" varieties) are carefully selected for color, tenderness, and freedom from blemishes.
• Grade B fruits and veggies (also known as "extra standard" varieties) are slightly more mature (older) than Grade A produce.
• Grade C fruits and veggies (also known as "standard) varieties) are the least expensive but also the lowest quality. They can be stringy, tough, and/or bitter, and are not uniform in color and flavor.

When you are selecting your frozen vegetables and fruits, keep an eye on the other ingredients -- especially the sauces. Added sauces generally add fat, salt, and sugar to your healthy produce.

Freezing produce is enough to preserve fruits and veggies without needing to add salt or sugars. Look for products that only list vegetables in the ingredients.

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