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Journalism of Courage
When it comes to their nutritional value and shelf-life, it is natural, rather expected, to pick fresh produce over frozen food — because it is, simply, fresh! But is it true — that fresh vegetables are really more nutritious than frozen ones? Well, this could be the case if you have access to a farm but otherwise, as it turns out, frozen nutrition could have higher nutritional value than fresh. Doesn’t make sense to you? Worry not, Krish Ashok, author of Masala Labs: The Science of Indian Cooking, took to Instagram to explain why frozen vegetables, unlike commonly believed, are not really bad for you. Read on to know what he had to say.
“It’s quite common for a lot of people in the subcontinent to assume that fresh vegetables are fresher than frozen vegetables. In fact, many wrongly assume that freezing destroys nutrients. Nothing could be farther from the truth. To survive transportation and storage, fresh vegetables are often harvested prematurely at sub-par nutrition levels. On the other hand, frozen vegetables are harvested close to peak maturity and nutrition levels,” he informed on Instagram.
“Unless you have your own kitchen garden or have access to a farmers market located close to where the vegetables are actually grown, frozen is a better bet — it’s fresher, more convenient, and rather crucially, more easily accessible for you to improve the health quotient of your meals,” he explained.
Speaking with indianexpress.com, Dr G Sushma – Consultant – Clinical Dietician, CARE Hospitals, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad said, “Fresh beans are picked and sold within a few days, while frozen beans are harvested and then immediately flash-frozen. Nutritional content can be affected by factors such as storage time and temperature. However, in most cases, frozen beans have similar nutritional value to fresh beans. This is because freezing can help preserve the nutrients and prevent spoilage”.
Agreeing that, in many cases, frozen vegetables can be a healthier option than fresh, Dr Sushma reasoned that it is “because frozen vegetables are usually picked and frozen at the peak of their ripeness, when they are at their most nutritious”. Fresh produce, on the other hand, may be “picked before it is fully ripe and shipped long distances, which can cause nutrient loss,” she mentioned.
However, this can vary depending on the specific type of vegetable and the processing methods used.
Rather than opting for vegetables that might go bad soon after purchase, opting for frozen ones can be a smarter option. When choosing between fresh and frozen food, “it is important to consider factors such as availability, cost, and convenience, as well as nutritional value,” stressed Dr Sushma.
Ashok also advised eating frozen peas and gaining their nutritional benefits rather than “being puritanical about enjoying it only during winter.”
“Eating healthily is as much a behaviour science problem as it is a nutrition science problem, and it’s easier to keep frozen peas around and eat it regularly than to try and remember what is currently in season and go out of the way to procure them fresh all the time. Long term convenience always trumps short term will power improvements,” he concluded.
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