Fruits and vegetables are key to a balanced diet. They give our body all the essential nutrients that it requires to function properly, keeping us naturally healthy and fit. However, fresh produce may not always be available at our disposal, and this has led to a massive explosion and expansion of the frozen food market. Before deconstructing the debate around whether frozen leafy vegetables or fruits are as nutritious as fresh ones, first, we must know that both are harvested in a similar fashion but the difference lies in the latter part, in the processing phase.
Frozen Leafy Veggies and Fruits
Frozen veggies and fruits are easily accessible and are convenient at times. They are harvested when they are at peak of their ripeness, that is when they are most nutritious. Nonetheless, the processing procedure is a little different when it comes to freezing vegetables and freezing fruits. In the case of vegetables, after harvesting, they are blanched, cut, frozen, and packaged within a limited amount of time, whereas, in the case of fruits, they do not undergo the blanching phase. However, they are cut and packed in a similar way as vegetables.
Deconstructing The Benefits of Frozen Food Produce
Although, frozen leafy vegetables may tend to lose some amount of their nutritional value due to the process of blanching, nevertheless, the fiber content remains relatively unaffected. So overall, there is an almost negligible difference between the nutritional content of fresh and frozen foods.
Since the harvesting of fresh produce is done before they reach their peak ripeness, the nutritional content is minimal. These fresh produces may however tend to lose some nutritional value during their transportation to the stores. Although the loss of nutrients may happen for frozen veggies as well, during the blanching process, freezing them helps preserve a whole lot of nutrient value.
It is a myth that “frozen foods” have no nutritional value, at all. In fact, they relatively have the same nutritional content as fresh produce. Therefore, it can be said that frozen foods stand in a slightly more advantageous position because of their easy accessibility and convenience, when compared to fresh veggies and fruits. The busy lifestyle that we all lead in contemporary times sometimes comes in between our required consumption of fruits and vegetables. In such cases, frozen foods provide us with a convenient solution while being simple and nutritious at the same time.
Moreover, one of the most important advantages of frozen foods is that they aid us in eliminating food waste. While fresh products need to be consumed at a certain period of time or else they end up being thrown away, frozen foods can be stored for a much longer period of time and consumed at your convenience- hence, preventing unnecessary wastage of food.
More than the issue or debate being between fresh or frozen foods, the bigger debate should be around how to get people to consume more fruits and veggies for a balanced diet to live a healthy life. Frozen fruits and vegetables, therefore, work as a convenient alternative as long as people are consuming them in the right amount.