Are Frozen Vegetables Healthy?

Take it to Go:

** The purpose of this blog post is not to deter you away from fresh produce, rather it is to encourage you to utilize frozen produce as another way to reach the set dietary guideline for vegetable consumption. **

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a healthy diet incorporates at least 2.5 cups of vegetables every day to obtain the proper amount of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals. However, based on a USDA food consumption survey, Americans only consume about 1.4 cups of vegetables per day, which means we only reach 56% of this particular dietary guideline.

Vegetables are jam-packed with essential nutrients and are quite beneficial in reducing the risk of chronic diseases and cancer. While it is a common belief that fresh vegetables and produce are the healthiest, it is not entirely true. Any vegetable in any form counts as a part of the vegetable food group, whether they are raw, cooked, fresh, frozen, dried, dehydrated, whole, cut-up, mashed, or in the form of 100% vegetable juice.

One of these forms that is most often overlooked is frozen vegetables. Due to the “cop out” stigma surrounding frozen produce, many people frown upon and shy away from the frozen vegetable aisle. However, from a nutrition standpoint, frozen vegetables aren’t necessarily inferior. It all depends on how fresh the fresh produce actually is.

Of course the most ideal scenario would be to pick our vegetables from our own vegetable garden, but that isn’t always possible, especially when living in arid or urban locations. The next most ideal scenario would be to buy ripe, fresh produce from the grocery store; however, harvested and deliverable vegetables often take days to reach their market destination, depleting them of their nutritional value as they spend days being transported in the heat. Not to mention, many of the harvested vegetables are picked days before their peak ripeness, preventing them from fully developing their nutritional potential.

This isn’t to say that fresh vegetables aren’t a good choice, but frozen vegetables are definitely a valid option in trying to reach your vegetable consumption goal. These vegetables are picked at their peak ripeness and then flash frozen. This forces the nutrients to be “frozen into” the vegetables. Furthermore, freezing does not affect the fibre content of vegetables, which many health experts argue is one of the most important reasons for their consumption. Lastly, by incorporating frozen vegetables into your diet, they can be stored for much longer periods of time to save on food waste.

To further expand on the nutritional benefits of frozen foods, according to the British Frozen Food Federation, frozen fruits and vegetables have higher levels of antioxidants and phytochemicals than their fresh produce counterparts. This makes frozen vegetables a more appealing option in comparison to fresh produce since some of the water-soluble vitamins including vitamin C and some B vitamins to be lost as fresh vegetables sit out.

Another aspect that is important to consider is the way the vegetables are prepared in order to maximize their nutritional value. Boiling veggies in a large amount of water for a long time quickly drains the vegetables of their vitamins. Thus, steaming and microwaving them instead are much better options.

To conclude, frozen vegetables are definitely a viable alternative to non-frozen produce especially during the time of the year when the produce is not at its utmost freshness. They are convenient and cost effective compared to their fresh counterparts, and they are also just as nutritious, if not more.

Pros and Cons of Frozen vs Fresh Veggies