Fresh or Frozen Vegetables?

" I know you're supposed to have fresh veges when possible but sometimes it gets expensive so wondering if frozen veges are ok to have.  Do they lose much of their nutrition when they've been frozen?"

Good question, with a very quick easy answer!  No, they don't really lose their nutrition at all.  In fact some actually retain more nutrients than their ‘fresh' relatives.  Studies have been done in particular with peas, spinach, green beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, broccoli, broad beans, cabbage and potatoes (Listener, November 2008) and found the nutrient profiles to be very favourable.

This is because processing of frozen fruit and veg occurs very soon after picking which locks in the nutrients before things like heat, light and time have a chance to deplete them.

There are a few things that won't contain the same nutrition as fresh, but it's not a huge concern.  An example that may interest the bodybuilders out there is pineapple.  Fresh pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain which is a great digestive aid for proteins, but heating pineapple (as in the case of canning) de-activates this enzyme.

Of course, you can't beat fresh picked from the garden, these give the highest source of nutrition, provided you haven't boiled the colour out of them first.

Stacey, 12 Apr 10