Trouble Getting Enough Servings of Vegetables?

Yes, you read that correctly. It is true that fresh vegetables have slightly higher nutrient densities than their frozen counterparts; however, have you ever thought about how "fresh" your fresh vegetables actually are? The vegetables that you get at your local grocery store are generally far from fresh. Unless you are picking your fruits and vegetables directly from a garden or buying them from a locally sourced farmer's market, your produce is not as fresh as you think it is, and the nutrient quality and density have likely suffered greatly. For example, lettuce from your local chain supermarket is washed in a solution of chlorine and preservatives before being put in cold storage for up to a month. Potatoes can be stores for up to a year in a temperature controlled environment before they hit the supermarket shelves. Many types of produce are coated in wax to protect the outside of the vegetable and make it look nice on the shelves. Wax is not digestible by the body and you cannot wash off the wax with just water. In order to get the wash off, you must peel the vegetable, which removes the most nutrient dense part of the produce. In a truly global economy, where Americans demand to be able to buy any type of produce they want, any time of the year, supermarkets import produce from all over the world. If you are consuming a vegetable that is not in-season in the United States, it is guaranteed that it has gone through a preservation process and spent a long time in transit to land in your local supermarket. This says nothing about the fact that we buy produce and don't use it for a few days. This adds further to the natural nutrient decay that starts the moment produce is picked.

So how much of the nutrients are lost in chain supermarket produce?

It depends on the nutrient and on the vegetable. The following are some examples: a 2007 report by the Journal for the Science of Food and Agriculture found that vegetables lost 15%-77% of their Vitamin C within one week of harvest. A 2005 report by Penn State University found that spinach can lose 90% of its Vitamin C content within 24 hours of harvest. That same Penn State study showed it took only six days for Spinach to lose 50% of its folate. Spinach is prized for its high nutrient content, especially folate.

What can I do to make sure I am getting the most nutritional benefit from my produce?

If you can, shop for some percentage of your produce from a local farmer's market. This can be prohibitive for a variety of reasons for a lot of people at any level, but buying some of your produce that is truly fresh and using it within a day or two, is ideal. Frozen vegetables are an awesome way to mitigate the issues outlined at the beginning of they post. When produce that is going to be frozen is picked, it is blanched, or dipped into boiling water, in order to suppress the growth of microbes and to retain its color. Research has shown that the process of blanching can make some of the nutrients in vegetables, specifically phytochemical more bioavailable. This means your body can actually absorb and process some nutrients better from frozen vegetables than it can from some fresh vegetables.

Additionally, the vitamins in produce, regardless of whether they are fresh or frozen, do lose some percentage of their density. Research in produce preparation indicate that microwaving or steaming vegetables, which is required to prepare frozen vegetables, helps them retain much of their nutritional content. Further, people tend to absorb carotenoids, and important nutrient found in produce, better after eating cooked foods rather than raw.

Frozen vegetables offer an amazingly convenient and supremely cost effective way to make sure you are getting all of your servings of vegetables each day. They are typically healthier than the "fresh" produce from your chain supermarket and cost a fraction of the price. They are also easier and quicker to prepare. Don't be afraid to stock up on frozen veggies on your next trip to the supermarket!