Canned vs frozen vs fresh vegetables.

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  • MandyAnnV
    MandyAnnV Posts: 68 Member
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    Fresh, Frozen, and then if you absolutely must, canned. Think about the kind of preservatives that go in to a canned vegetable to make it be able to not spoil for a year or two, or more??

    Sodium is definitely something that sneaks up on you big time. I intake less than MFP recommends for personal health reasons, but when I get close to, or go above, I have found in the past my weight loss slows down.

    Alot of people focus on quanity (calories), but you have to focus on quality to (if that makes any sense).

    I am on a budget too, I have frozen, and some fresh too.
  • Carnivor0us
    Carnivor0us Posts: 1,752 Member
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    I prefer fresh, and think it's better for you but the sodium levels in canned and frozen never bothered me. I also drink a LOT of water.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    There was some research a few years ago that said that sometimes frozen is the best option. For all I know, it may have been paid for by the frozen food council! But the argument is that frozen food in the grocery store is flash frozen as soon as it comes in from the field, or even in the field. Fresh fruits and vegetables begin changes in their nutrient values as soon as they are picked. So if it has been shipped from the field to your store, and it has been a long time since it was picked, the frozen foods might be more nutrient dense.

    I suspect that it depends on the veggie or fruit. I'm pretty sure that frozen corn, for instance, would be preferable to fresh corn, unless you can get it the same day it was picked. Green beans or peas... I'm as convinced.

    Also, some nutrients are destroyed or diminished in heat, so if you can get them very fresh, and eat them raw, you get different levels of some nutrients than when you cook them. But, along those same lines, if you are cooking the veggies, I would guess (this is just a guess) that the difference between grocery store fresh (not farmer's field fresh) and frozen is even less.
  • peacemongernc
    peacemongernc Posts: 253 Member
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    BPA should be banned from canned goods and not just baby products. Hormone disruptors: "ain't nobody got time for that!!"

    Amen.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    Frozen for quite some time now. We used to by fresh, then when you forget about them being in there, you end up throwing money away. At least with frozen, I can keep them longer.

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  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    ^ I agree. Actually, it can also be the case that frozen vegetables have even more nutrients than fresh ones. They are being frozen right after they were picked whereas fresh veggies are sitting sometimes several days in the grocery store until you come and pick them up.

    ^^^^ this

    I'd say it goes like this, both in terms of taste and nutritional quality

    best: freshly picked vegetables (grow your own, pick your own farms, eaten as soon as possible after picking, etc)
    close 2nd: vegetables that are frozen right after picking and not kept in the freezer for that long
    close 3rd: vegetables that have been sitting around for a long time

    not so close 4th: tinned veggies - these are heated to a high temperature and sodium is added, both of these reduce the amount of nutrition in them. it also changes the balance between sodium and potassium... fresh veggies have much more potassium than sodium, in fact it's at about the ratio that your body needs sodium and potassium in... whereas tinned vegetables have a lot more sodium than potassium, so if you only eat tinned veggies then you're likely to get too much sodium and not enough potassium

    last place: no veggies at all.

    so basically, stick to fresh or frozen as much as you can, but tinned veggies are still veggies and you'll still get nutrition from them, just not as much (and be careful of the sodium if blood pressure or water retention is an issue for you).

    I'm not sure where dried veggies/fruit would go on here, it would depend on whether they have been exposed to heat and have lots of added sodium. potato crisps (aka chips in the USA) are not exactly what I'd call nutritious, but dried fruit is pretty nutritious, albeit rather calorie dense and easy to overeat on (fresh is more filling for fewer calories).
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Frozen for quite some time now. We used to by fresh, then when you forget about them being in there, you end up throwing money away. At least with frozen, I can keep them longer.

    Same!!

    Also I buy fresh and freeze some or all of it, if fresh is cheaper than frozen.
  • ElaineRN100
    ElaineRN100 Posts: 201 Member
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    During the winter I rely on Frozen or canned - I get the fresh when I can. I live too far from a grocery store to use only fresh. I have a garden that I use for most of my vegetables. Fruit, the same. I think as long as you are consuming fruits and veggies in moderation, either fresh, frozen or canned you are doing great.

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