Tuesday Tip: Fresh vs Frozen 🥦🫐
I am a big fan of frozen veg and fruit – both as a way to help save time for myself and my clients, for convenience, cost and also freshness! But there still seems to be a bit of a stigma around frozen fruit and veg.
The concerns around frozen produce tend to centre on issues of freshness and perceived nutrient loss and a view that it’s ‘lazy’. For most brands, prior to freezing the produce is blanched (boiled / steamed briefly). This stops enzyme activity and ensure the colour and flavour remain intact. There can be a small amount of nutrient loss in this process – although recent improvements mean these are minimised. Fresh produce on the other hand is not quite as fresh as we might think. Unless it’s been grown yourself or locally, it’s spent days/weeks/months being stored and transported to the shop. Studies show that the transportation and storage of fresh fruit and vegetables can often lead to more severe nutrient losses than the blanching and freezing. For most shop bought produce it will be at least 14 days after harvest (and that’s a low estimate) vs frozen produce which is frozen within hours of harvest.
Most importantly frozen produce can be more convenient, and avoid waste. This means you may be more likely to actually eat more fruit and veg. It can also meal prep easier and faster. A recent study of more than 16,000 people found that those who purchase frozen fruit and vegetables consume more servings of them, compared to those who do not.
That’s not to say fresh produce isn’t good – in an ideal world fresh produce would be affordable and delivered the day it was harvested. And the more of this that you can source locally, the better! But frozen fruit and veg are great too!
Enjoy!
Happy Tuesday 🤗
Xx
Every Step Fitness 