Most Americans do not eat enough vegetables. Frozen vegetables are convenient, but are they as healthy as fresh vegetables? Read the facts here.
Vegetables are an essential aspect of a healthy diet. They are packed with essential vitamins, antioxidants, and nutrients that are vital to your health. Many people struggle to eat enough vegetables, and their health may suffer as a consequence.
Frozen vegetables are convenient and easy to prepare, but it is often assumed that they are not as healthy as fresh vegetables. Fortunately, this is not the case.
Fresh VS. Frozen Vegetables: Which is better?
Harvesting Process: Fresh Vegetables
Fresh vegetables are undoubtedly one of the healthiest foods you can eat. However, fresh vegetables may occasionally lack some of the nutrients that frozen vegetables have. This is because fresh vegetables are often harvested before they are ripe.
It is necessary for fresh vegetables to be harvested before they are ripe because they will be transported and sorted before being sold in stores. The transportation process is not always as quick as you might assume.
In order to have fresh produce available all year, produce can be stored for many months on end in a storage facility. In order to remain fresh, the produce must sit in a temperature-controlled environment and is often treated with chemicals.
While fresh vegetables are still undoubtedly healthy, this process allows less time for the vegetables to reach their peak nutritional value, which happens when vegetables reach their peak ripeness while still growing.
If you have the means to purchase your vegetables from a local farmer’s market or produce stand, these vegetables will be picked closer to peak ripeness and will contain higher levels of nutrients, because most of these markets only sell produce that is in season.
Many people struggle to eat their fresh produce before it goes bad, which tends to deter people from eating vegetables. In order to combat this, try the Lil’ Broc app to monitor the freshness of all of your produce, and ensure that it is all eaten before it expires.
Harvesting Process: Frozen Vegetables
Since there is less urgency and planning required to harvest frozen vegetables, the harvesting process is a little different than harvesting fresh vegetables. Frozen vegetables must be at their peak ripeness when they are frozen, because vegetables will not continue to ripen once they are frozen.
Suppliers want to offer frozen vegetables that are ready to eat and taste good, so they will wait until vegetables are completely ripened before harvesting. This means that frozen vegetables might actually contain some nutrients that fresh vegetables may not have.
There is also less likelihood that frozen vegetables will be treated with chemicals, because the harvesting process moves along much more quickly so chemicals are not necessary to preserve the vegetables.
However, many frozen vegetables undergo blanching before being frozen. Blanching helps to preserve the color, taste, and texture of frozen vegetables, but can affect nutritional value.
Certain water-solvable vitamins can be depleted through the blanching process, but generally keeping vegetables frozen will not significantly deplete the nutritional value of the vegetables.
Overall, the harvesting processes of both fresh and frozen vegetables can cause a slight decline in nutritional value, but generally both fresh and frozen vegetables still offer a variety of essential nutrients.
When to Choose Frozen Vegetables
Frozen vegetables are often more cost effective than fresh vegetables. If you’re looking for a cost-effective way to incorporate more vegetables in your diet, it is certainly worth considering picking up a few packs of frozen vegetables at the store.
During winter seasons, frozen vegetables may be more readily available than fresh vegetables. You will have the option to purchase vegetables that may otherwise be out of season.
Certain vegetables, such as peas, green beans, and carrots, tend to freeze quite well. While they may not taste exactly like fresh vegetables, the taste will still generally be satisfactory.
Frozen cauliflower can even be purchased and used as a rice substitute if you’re looking for a more subtle way to incorporate vegetables into your diet.
When to Choose Fresh Vegetables
If you are able to purchase fresh, in-season vegetables, it is certainly worth doing so. The best tasting vegetables will be the ones that are locally grown. Depending on what climate you live in, the types of vegetables available to you may vary, but you can rest assured in knowing that you are eating the highest quality vegetables available and supporting local farmers.
If vegetables are harvested locally or are in-season, there is a better chance that these vegetables have a higher nutritional value than the off-season vegetables often sold at a supermarket. In this case, you may want to opt for fresh vegetables over frozen vegetables.
Local fresh vegetables are typically more environmentally friendly than both frozen vegetables and fresh vegetables sold at a supermarket, because there is no plastic packaging involved or preservative chemicals being used.
If you’re worried that you won’t be able to eat your fresh vegetables on time, track their shelf life using the Lil’ Broc app. If you find that you don’t have enough time to eat all of your fresh vegetables in time, you can always freeze vegetables on your own to enjoy later.
What are the Benefits of Eating Frozen Vegetables?
Eating frozen vegetables offers convenience and cost effectiveness to those leading busy lives. If you’re looking for an easy way to add more vegetables to your diet, frozen vegetables are easy to cook and prepare.
Most frozen vegetables can be heated up and ready to serve very quickly. Other frozen vegetables, such as kale and avocados, can be added to smoothies for an easy fix of healthy greens.
While frozen vegetables might lose a small amount of nutrients during the preparation process, it is not a significant amount and overall you will still reap the benefits of eating vegetables.
By monitoring the shelf life of your fresh vegetables and incorporating frozen vegetables into your diet, you can reduce the amount of kitchen waste produced in your home.
What are the Benefits of Eating Fresh Vegetables?
Fresh vegetables will have a better taste and texture than frozen vegetables, especially if they are sourced locally. Nothing compares to the taste of fresh, local produce. Fresh produce can even be eaten without cooking if you enjoy eating raw carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and more.
Due to the fact that fresh vegetables can be cooked or eaten raw, you are less likely to get bored of eating vegetables as you might if you’re eating the same selection of frozen vegetables over and over.
While fresh vegetables do have a shorter shelf life than frozen vegetables, it is easy to monitor the shelf life of your vegetables using the Lil’ Broc app and plan your meals accordingly.
If you are able to eat a healthy mix of both fresh and frozen vegetables, you will have a large variety of nutrient-dense vegetables to enjoy in many different dishes.
Fresh VS. Frozen Vegetables: Final Thoughts
Both fresh and frozen vegetables have their own benefits. Fresh vegetables often taste better and can be cooked in a variety of ways, while frozen vegetables are affordable and easy to prepare. Both offer plenty of essential vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. Consider eating a balance of both fresh and frozen vegetables to enjoy a variety of different meals.