We’re often told that we should prioritize eating fresh fruit and vegetables but the advice from a doctor may have you heading to the frozen aisle instead.
Dr Karan Rajan, a UK-based surgeon and university lecturer, is highly active on social media and shares health tips with a combined following of 6.3 million across TikTok and Instagram, and his latest video delves into the benefits of frozen produce.
Doctor highlights why some frozen fruit and vegetables can be better than fresh
“Frozen fruit and vegetables can have even more nutrients than their fresh counterparts,” explains Dr Rajan in his video, before citing several examples where frozen produce can be more beneficial.
Frozen blueberries are one as they “retain more vitamin C and polyphenols (plant compounds with antioxidant properties) than fresh blueberries because the freezing process slows down nutrient loss,” he says.
This is because most frozen fruit is often frozen within 24 hours of being picked and is, therefore, fresher nutritionally than the fresh produce that may have spent days being transported and sitting around on supermarket shelves.
Dr Rajan also notes that frozen peas have higher levels of certain types of B vitamins and E vitamins than the fresh version while spinach is another vegetable that benefits from being frozen.
“It often has higher levels of certain types of E vitamins than the fresh spinach,” he explains. “Even better, you might be able to utilize iron more effectively from the frozen spinach than the fresh one.”
“In raw spinach, much of the iron content is difficult to absorb but frozen spinach is often blanched (briefly immersed in boiling water) and packed into cubes before freezing meaning it could contain fewer anti-nutrients like oxalates thus helping you absorb more iron.”
Food hacks
Study backs this up
Dr Rajan’s advice on frozen produce has been backed up by several studies over the years.
One such study, conducted in 2015 by the American Chemical Society, put this theory to the test by analyzing the levels of four vitamins in several types of fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables.
Included in the sample of food produce were corn, carrots, broccoli, spinach, peas, green beans, strawberries, and blueberries.
The study found that “overall, the vitamin content of the frozen commodities was comparable to and occasionally higher than that of their fresh counterparts.”
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