Healthy Helpings: Is fresh produce always better than frozen?

As we descend further into the season of snow and ice, many of us dream of the beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables so plentiful -- and less expensive -- just a few months ago.

While it is certainly true that picking a fresh fruit or vegetable from your own garden plot is the best nutrient-wise, how do the fruit and vegetable offerings we have to select from now compare?

Do they have the same quality and quantity of vitamin and mineral content as the grocery produce or frozen foods?

While it might be a surprise to many, the fruits and vegetables in the stores now might or might not be comparable nutrient-wise to the freshly-picked tomato or green beans from your garden last summer. How the food is handled makes a huge difference.

Three points to consider when choosing and using produce: the time from ground to table; produce storage conditions; and how the food is cooked.

The time from picking to eating is critical because once the produce is picked, the clock starts ticking in regard to the loss of nutrients from that product. That means that the best nutrient value is found in produce picked as close to the time of eating as possible.

For those who don't have a garden, try buying produce from a farmers market. Get to know the vendors and ask when the produce was picked. You can ask at the grocery stores about their produce -- many are starting to use local producers, but they might not know when their produce has been picked.

Using frozen produce is another great option. Groceries are able to provide a wide range of frozen vegetables and fruits year around. The frozen produce is almost always fresher than the fresh produce for those without a garden because of the speed at which the produce companies are able to freeze the food. Green beans can be from field to frozen in hours, which helps to retain much more of their vitamin content.

Once you pick or buy a fresh fruit or vegetable, be kind to it. If it requires refrigeration, get it in your crisper as soon as possible. Proper storage of fruits and vegetables is very important to maintaining its nutrient value and food safety. Vitamin C content, as an example, can be lessened with exposure to heat and light. Vitamin B6 also lessens with heat exposure.

Lastly, how you cook a food will affect the vitamin and mineral content of that food. You can pick the very best, freshest produce and ruin the nutrient content in the cooking process. Use as little heat and water as you can to get the food cooked. Less water will limit the amount of nutrients -- including potassium, B vitamins and Vitamin C -- that will leach out into the cooking water.

Steaming or microwaving foods requires much less heat exposure and less water use, so nutrient value is better preserved.

Cathie Brookhart is a clinical/outpatient dietitian Gettysburg Hospital. Healthy Helpings is a column written by nutritionists in York and Adams counties.

Source: http://goo.gl/Q8vIRu