When Fresh Produce is Scarce....
One can't help but wonder... Are canned and frozen fruits and vegetables just as healthy as fresh!
The bottom line is for you and your family to eat more fruits and vegetables any way you can--even canned! Personally, the textural changes that occur when most fruits and vegetables are canned make the produce unappealing. But maybe that's just me. I much prefer frozen and fresh. But there are people out there that may actually appreciate the softness and flavor in canned fruit and vegetables. I think if you had canned growing up you might have an affinity for it as an adult too (fond memories?)
But is canned and frozen produce just as healthy as fresh? Some canned and frozen fruit will have added sugar or syrup and some canned vegetables will have added sodium while fresh fruit and vegetables don't have either added.
Produce tends to have its highest amount of nutrients when it is at its peak of ripeness. Once it is picked from the branch or vine some of its vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals begin to break down due to exposure to heat, light, time and natural processes. So the amount of nutrients in fresh produce depends on how long ago it was picked, how many days it's traveled to be in your supermarket, and how long it was sitting in your crisper before you ate it.
When foods are flash frozen they are frozen within hours of being picked, and once frozen, the nutrients and phytochemicals cannot break down further. With the canning process, some of the heat-sensitive nutrients (like vitamin C) will be lost. So when is frozen possibly more nutritious than fresh? When the fresh produce spent days either being transported or sitting in the supermarket...not to mention how long it might have been sitting in your crisper or on your kitchen counter.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Halfway Homemade, Frozen Meals: Make Your own
Technorati Tags: fruit, vegetables, nutrition, freshproduce, cannedfoods, frozenfoods
The bottom line is for you and your family to eat more fruits and vegetables any way you can--even canned! Personally, the textural changes that occur when most fruits and vegetables are canned make the produce unappealing. But maybe that's just me. I much prefer frozen and fresh. But there are people out there that may actually appreciate the softness and flavor in canned fruit and vegetables. I think if you had canned growing up you might have an affinity for it as an adult too (fond memories?)
But is canned and frozen produce just as healthy as fresh? Some canned and frozen fruit will have added sugar or syrup and some canned vegetables will have added sodium while fresh fruit and vegetables don't have either added.
Produce tends to have its highest amount of nutrients when it is at its peak of ripeness. Once it is picked from the branch or vine some of its vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals begin to break down due to exposure to heat, light, time and natural processes. So the amount of nutrients in fresh produce depends on how long ago it was picked, how many days it's traveled to be in your supermarket, and how long it was sitting in your crisper before you ate it.
When foods are flash frozen they are frozen within hours of being picked, and once frozen, the nutrients and phytochemicals cannot break down further. With the canning process, some of the heat-sensitive nutrients (like vitamin C) will be lost. So when is frozen possibly more nutritious than fresh? When the fresh produce spent days either being transported or sitting in the supermarket...not to mention how long it might have been sitting in your crisper or on your kitchen counter.
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Halfway Homemade, Frozen Meals: Make Your own
Technorati Tags: fruit, vegetables, nutrition, freshproduce, cannedfoods, frozenfoods
3 Comments:
One notable exception to the rule: tomatoes. The canning process seems to increase the amount of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, per serving of tomatoes - making them in some ways healthier than fresh.
Does seltzer water have the same effect as water?
I hope I'm not sound stupid, but what particular "effect" are you referring to? Since it too is a liquid, if you mean, will it help keep you hydrated, than I would say yes. Of course, you'll be burping a bit more than if you drank regular water..... LOL!
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