Fresh vs. frozen: Eat enough of the good stuff and it doesn’t really matter
It depends, of course. The experts cite many, many variables. But perhaps we’re asking the wrong questions.
Most frozen produce is picked at peak season and then immediately frozen to retain nutrients and freshness. Fresh produce from faraway places, on the other hand, loses some of its nutrient value while traveling and then sitting on a shelf for days or longer. But the amount of nutrient loss varies greatly depending on the type of produce.
In fact, in general green leafy vegetables are the most delicate and susceptible to nutrition loss, while vegetables and fruit with a skin or shell (think oranges or squash) are more robust and stay nutritionally intact longer.
And this is generally the story on produce. Get your five to nine servings a day in whatever form you can.
Just make sure, that the frozen variety doesn’t include added salt (vegetables) or added sugar (fruit and berries).
Another thing to keep in mind is to buy whole frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables whenever possible. “Because whenever you accelerate the degradation process, you lose nutrients.”
Along the same lines, the way produce is prepared actually is more important for nutrition retention than picking the absolute freshest of fresh spinach, for example.
“If you were to boil spinach you would lose much more folate than if you had it sitting in the fridge a few days,” lightly steamed or raw would be preferable.
Other things to consider are the economics of produce (frozen often is cheaper than fresh) as well as taste and texture. Some produce just doesn’t fare very well when frozen.
But let's just emphasize that the main message, though, should be to eat more produce whether fresh of frozen.
“Don’t over-worry this frozen/fresh thing. The most important thing here is to eat plant food in whatever form it may be — up to nine servings a day.” “Most people don’t eat enough produce, and not being able to buy local produce should not be an excuse to eat even less.”
“You’re missing the boat if you won’t eat anything but organic and local. Are you going to replace an apple with an organic cracker?”
Although they’re not seasonal, like veggies and fruit, meat and fish are part of the fresh-vs.-frozen debate, too. And the answers here echo those for produce.
“Frozen fish is not inferior, nutritionally speaking."
Back in the day all you heard all the time was " only buy fresh fish". “But things have changed. The freezing technology is so much better now.
These days, the freshly caught fish is flash-frozen aboard the fishing boat, keeping it nutritionally intact and “fresh” longer.
It should also be noted that all wild-caught fish – by law – has to be frozen in order to kill parasites, she says. In other words, unless you’re catching it yourself, there is no such thing as fresh, wild-caught fish, she says.
Farm-raised fish, on the other hand, often is shipped and sold to consumers without being frozen first.
So, it comes down to what looks good at the store.
Fresh fish should not smell fishy — at all. And if it’s frozen, look for freezer burn or crystals. If you see them it means the fish has been thawed and refrozen, which affects quality.
If a fish is flash frozen as soon as it's caught, it's just as fresh when you taw it than if you bought it fresh at a local fish market, sometimes even better.
Wild caught frozen is better than farm raised fresh also.
The same nutritional rules hold true for meat and poultry. Freezing meat and poultry does not affect the nutritional value. But keep an eye on the fat content — the fattier the meat, the better it will freeze, just like fish. Look for bigger cuts and vacuum-sealed packaging, and make sure to keep the freezer as cold as possible.
Important aspects of preparing frozen meats and fish, are to make sure they thaw slowly (in the fridge) and aren’t overcooked.
With fish, prepare with olive oil, lemon and maybe some parsley and perhaps top with fresh salsa — all healthy choices.
Just don’t over-think the frozen versus fresh. The biggest problem is that people don’t eat enough fish — not that they eat the ‘wrong’ fish.
In other words, “fresh or frozen?” is the wrong question. Instead, the more important question is: Are you getting enough produce and lean proteins?
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