Fresh or Frozen

As children I am pretty sure we have all pulled a face at them and some of us may still do, but there’s absolutely no doubting it that vegetables are pretty important to a good healthy diet.

Good quality veg is packed with vital nutrients to keep our bodies and minds in tip top working condition, but the big question is what is better, frozen or fresh?

It’s a tricky question really because there isn’t really that much nutritional difference as long as the fresh veg is truly fresh. What I mean is that it is not wilting and bruised from being handled and sat on a shelf for days on end. These bashed and bruised vegetables may look sad and sorry for themselves but no matter how much you need them, they are definitely best left on the shelf.

Just because something doesn’t come canned or packaged it doesn’t always mean that it’s the best option. Some fresh fruit and veg in supermarkets can be picked up to two weeks before you actually get them on your plate, and each day after the picking process it loses nutritional value which can add up to a loss of around 45% of vital nutrients.

You can put some of the goodness back by putting vegetables straight in to the fridge when you get your shopping home. It keeps them fresher for longer and it also raises their level of Vitamin C, which has probably dropped during transit.

The best way to make sure everything you buy is the freshest you can find is by finding a trust worthy farmer or market trader that can tell you when and where their produce is from.

Vegetables that are grown for freezing are frozen at their peak and snap frozen to lock in their nutrients. Before the freezing process they are blanched at a high temperature, which means they also hold their colour. Blanching is a very quick process that doesn’t result in loss of vitamins or nutrients, and in fact activates antioxidants that protect the body from free radicals, which can cause severe damage to cells.

For me fresh is always going to be the best way to have fruit and veg. I enjoy being able to see the food and pick what I am going to eat when I am buying it from the market but overall as long as you are eating your daily amount, fresh or frozen it doesn’t actually matter.