Better fresh or frozen? The struggle between fruits and vegetables in relation to health and the amount of nutrients | Steroids4U.eu

Better fresh or frozen? The struggle between fruits and vegetables in relation to health and the amount of nutrients

Some unwritten rule says that we should always consume fruit and vegetables fresh. The reasons are different. Better taste compared to frozen or much more vitamins and minerals, so for us fresh vegetables along with fruits are much better. Today, we will focus primarily on the latter reason and find out what the differences are and whether frozen fruits & vegetables are really that bad.

The reason written above originated in people's minds from a logical point of view. After all, common sense tells us that what is fresh is simply fresh. More fresh, more vitamin, more mineral, healthier and more beneficial for the body. On the contrary, something frozen is associated with processed foods, the destruction of important nutrients and is supposed to be just a cheap alternative for lazy people, which is not very good for health. The theory may be nice, but not so in practice.

Processed = automatically bad and unhealthy?

Processed foods are not a killer. Although we generally recommend eating as little processed food as possible, this is mainly because people set this general rule to buy nutritionally valuable foods and maybe put oatmeal in their basket instead of cereals and have water instead of Pepsi with a lot of calories. Such recommendations often lead to increased intake of fruits and vegetables, fiber and other nutrients that are needed for optimal health. However, if something is processed, it does not mean that it is bad. Are quality yogurts bad? Not. Processed foods help with overall health, we can look at nutrition for older / pregnant women or infants, but also for ordinary people. Looking at the 2014 research, the authors say that fruits and vegetables - frozen or canned - can contribute more to an overall increase in micronutrients and vitamins (especially folate, potassium, magnesium, vitamin C, A, E) in Americans' diets. And that's what we want.

Of course, processed foods in general can lead to excessive calorie intake, which will contribute to weight gain, but it also depends on the degree of processing and we cannot look at the term "managed food" as something diabolical and unhealthy. There is:

1st stage, ie minimally processed food (washed and packaged fruits and vegetables, salads, roasted nuts, etc.)

Level 2 talks about preserving and improving nutrients (canned tuna, beans, tomatoes, frozen fruits or vegetables)

Grade 3 is in the form of meals and foods, where sweeteners, oils, spices, flavors are added, but it is not yet a ready-to-eat food (some packaged meals, tomato sauce, dressings, rice)

4th grade are just those ready-to-eat foods like cereals, cookies, fruit drinks, ice cream

Grade 5 consists of frozen things such as pizza or various semi-finished products, which are usually not absolutely nutritionally valuable

As you can see, not everything processed needs to be taken immediately as something terrible. But let's move on to fruit and vegetables.

Frozen vs. fresh

In the research, they compared fresh, fresh, but kept for a few days at home (in the research, it was specifically for 5 days in the refrigerator) and frozen vegetables + fruits. It was found that the content of beta-carotene (precursor to vitamin A) was higher in fresh broccoli compared to frozen (2020 μg vs. 940 μg), but in maize it was the opposite - frozen won (65.4 μg vs. 77, 2 μg) and frozen peas also won compared to fresh peas (957 μg vs. 1084 μg). Strawberries were relatively the same (21.2 μg vs. 20.7 μg) and you can see other foods in the table.

If we look at vitamin C, frozen broccoli beat the fresh peas, which were also stored at home for a few days, as well as peas and green beans. The favorite strawberries won in fresh form, but as you can see, the longer storage resulted in an even lower vitamin C content than the frozen strawberries. Interesting is the spinach, which clearly won in fresh form, but when folic acid was compared, spinach was best in frozen form.

However, it should be mentioned that the amount of nutrients also affects the freshness, transport of the food or place of storage. It makes a difference to tear fresh peas from the garden or buy them fresh when they lie on the shelf for several days after being transported tens of kilometers, etc. In this, science tells us that the greater the transport and the length of storage, the lower the quality of nutrients. But let's not forget the soil, season, weather, cultivation methods, harvesting and the like. All this can affect the amount of nutrients.

The authors of the study say that most comparisons for fruit and vegetables are not fundamentally different, although it should be noted that storage in the refrigerator for five days mostly led to a worse concentration of micronutrients. In short, however, they summarized that the results do not support the traditional dogma that fresh fruit is so much superior to frozen. These claims are supported by other research, which also says that any form of fruit or vegetables should be included in the diet. A beautiful sentence from one evidence-based article: "The most nutritious produce is the produce you will actually eat." So they're arguing that there were 2% more vitamin C, but 3% less vitamin A, and that frozen broccoli is better than fresh, but you'd better take spinach from the garden. As stated in the expert article above, even the worst form of fruit or vegetables will still produce a sufficiently high density of nutrients compared to other foods.

Fruits and vegetables are one of the most nutritionally valuable foods and each of us should have them on the diet. Research and practice tell us that although there are some differences between some types of vegetables or fruits in different forms of processing, in the end it has only a minimal effect on the value of micronutrients. Ideally, he will have fresh, frozen vegetables in the menu and the canned one. Focus more on how to get more vegetables and fruits into you. If you know that thanks to frozen vegetables and fruits you can take them much more than in the fresh state, then go for it. You definitely get quality nutrients, there are enough of them and you don't have to deny frozen and otherwise processed fruits or vegetables. On the contrary.

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