Fresh vs. Frozen, The Veggie Debate

by Kris Pitcher

Canned, fresh, or frozen? Vegetables and fruits that is, and the great debate goes on. This is certainly an issue where you may have a personal preference, or opinion, or value. That's great. But I can offer some clarification, and quite possibly some serious simplification for you.

Americans eat about one third of the daily recommended servings for fruits and vegetables. And we're more likely to eat more fruit than veggies. Hmm, why am I not surprised. Fruit is good for us, but tops we should get 2 servings per day especially if we are watching our calories. At 100 plus calories of nature made sugar per serving...there isn't much room in our food plan for a lot of fruit depending on our goals. Sorry.

But with a recommendation for 7-10 servings of vegetables - we could use some easy ways to get these guys in. So which is better canned, fresh, or frozen?

If you are fortunate enough to grown your own, by all means go fresh. And if you can get fresh when it's in season, very nutritious. Canned vegetables lose nutrients in the canning process, except for tomatoes, and pumpkin - go figure. For the most part, canned are the least nutrient dense of the 3.

Frozen veggies are often more nutritious than fresh. They are processed at their peak ripeness when their nutrients are at their height. They are typically blanched, and then flash frozen locking in all those nutrients.

Vegetable destined for the supermarket are picked before they are ripe, they have a long way & time to travel. They have less time to fully develop their nutrients. Often fresh are less nutritious than frozen.

Steam or microwave vegetables to get the most out of them in terms of nutrients. When you boil them, you lose additional nutrients. Frozen veggies are convenient, cost effective, and ready when you are. There's no washing or prep work, just steam and go. Look for variety blends to give your taste buds a little something different.

Which ever you choose think of your fiber rich veggies as go to tools for weight management. Go easy on sugary and starchy veggies including: red peppers, carrots, potatoes of all kinds, yams, corn, sugar snap peas, peas, edamame, etc.

Go for it with your dark green leafy and water packed veggies like: lettuce, cabbage, bok choy, cucumber, mushrooms, bean sprouts, celery, asparagus, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc.

We are in a constant state of food prep at our house and for us, frozen vegetables fit both economically and in ease of preparation. Canned veggies do have their place, and I've got some in my pantry. And in season, we eat fresh veggies too. But our staple is frozen broccoli & green beans to give away the secret. Now pick one and eat your veggies!