Vegetables frozen right after they are picked may retain more nutrients than fresh veggies that have aged, a new study says.

Should you head to the supermarket freezer case instead of the produce department the next time you want nutrient-rich vegetables? It seems that up to 45% of the health-enhancing nutrients in fresh veggies have shriveled up and disappeared by the time they’re eaten, according to research reported in the Daily Telegraph.

And produce that’s processed right after being picked retains more of the nutrients, according to the UK-based Institute of Food Research, which carried out the research on behalf of the frozen food manufacturer Birds Eye.

The researchers found that after 16 days, green beans had lost 45% of their nutrients, broccoli and cauliflower 25%, carrots 10% and peas up to 15%.

“The nutritional content of fresh vegetables begins to deteriorate from the minute they re picked,” nutritionist Sarah Schenker told the Daily Telegraph. “This means that by the time they end up on our plate, although we may think we’re reaping the vegetable’s full nutritional benefits, this is often not the case.”

Frozen vegetables can be a nutritious choice for people without a lot of time to cook, says Keri Gans, R.D., spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

“They are frozen at their peak ripeness,” she says. “With fresh, you don’t know how long it has been since it was picked. Also, frozen vegetables will keep in the freezer without going bad. Since they are already cut up, it makes it easy for the cook.”

She said frozen vegetables can help consumers get the recommended daily allotment of vegetables – three to five servings.  A serving, she says, is half-cup of cooked vegetable or one cup of raw vegetable.

Fresh vegetables lose nutrients as they sit in your fridge, says Adee Rasabi, senior dietitian in the Ambulatory Care Network Nutrition Wellness Center a New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

“It can be hard to tell from looking at it how fresh it is,” she saif. “If you won’t be eating a vegetable right away, cook and freeze. That way, it won’t lose nutrients.”

She adds one caveat: Don’t buy the frozen vegetables in butter or cream sauces, which add fat and calories and turn a healthy food into a fat-laden diet wrecker.

Nutrition experts caution against just giving up on fresh veggies across the board.

“While it is true that different nutrients react differently to the storing, cooking and blanching processes, there is no conclusion across the board that frozen is better than fresh,” says Karen Kupinski, R.D., director of Nutrition at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn. “The best recommendation is still to consume local produce.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2010/03/05/2010-03-05_frozen_vegetables_more_nutritious_than_fresh_study_says.html

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