Canned vs. Fresh Veggies.

[hypo]

Common sense would lend that fresh veggies are better than canned. I generally eat a can of carrots, greenbeans, limas, etc along with a meat for most of my meals. How beneficial would i be to switch to fresh, are the canned veggies processed enough to lose most of their nutritional content?

 

[knox]

i was always told frozen veggies maintain their nutrients more then fresh or canned. For the reason they are picked at their peak then frozen. Fresh veggies look good on the display but they have been sitting around for awhile and tend to loose their nutritional content.

 

[stalemate]

i'd go for fresh, but the truth is....if you're cookin em, you're cooking out almost all of the nutritional value except fiber anyway, but i'd still go frozen/fresh. i don't miss all that damn sodium either in the frickin cans!

 

[knox]

the only thing i get that is canned is is corn and beans..hmmm...i work in the produce department at a grocery store and the fresh veggies would sometimes sit on the display for almost a week and still look pretty good, depending on what the veggie is of course. I really don't cook my veggies but just thaw them out.

 

[Matthew D]

don't forget to go organic as much as possible also and like was said before frozen is really better than canned

 

[shatfield]

I would think the main difference would be the salt content- much higher in canned.

 

[natedogg]

How about lack of fruit and vegatable intake? I maybe get a couple of servings a day at most. Is it a must to get your 5 a day?

 

[stalemate]

How about lack of fruit and vegatable intake? I maybe get a couple of servings a day at most. Is it a must to get your 5 a day?

i believe it is.

 

[EEmain]

Frozen and then steamed the only way for me

 

[BodyWizard]

veggies that are frozen and shipped to the grocer's are *NOT* "picked at their peak. They have to be packed, weighed, washed, shipped, processed, and THEN frozen.

If you want your veggies picked at their peak and then frozen - grow 'em & freeze 'em yourself.

Short of that, buy organic @ local markets, and only buy a couple days' worth each trip.

 

[FlawedGrunt]

hmmm bumping this one out of the dead. I am broke and on a budget... just moved back home with my dad... they have about 60 cans of veggies, sweet peas and green beans... alot of sweet corn and so on... obviously i prefer fresh or frozen but should i be able to get away with this for now or bad idea?

How to prepare this stuff... just drain it or cook it too?

 

[WannabeBatman]

You can drain canned food to get rid of some of the excess sodium (emphasis on some of the sodium). I do this with tuna fish, canned chicken, etc. as well. Like someone said above, cooking any type of veggie will get rid of most of the nutrients.

However apparently cooking tomatoes actually increases the antioxidant properties in them, but at the same time decreases the vitamin C in them (source study done at Cornell University in 2008). I'm sure there are other variances of this nature.

Personally I'm on a pretty tight budget myself and sometimes I too have to eat canned veggies and fruits, I would prefer whole organic fruits and veggies myself but at least your not eating "highly fat saturated crap outta a box" as my buddy would say.

One further note, I am fan of complex carbs, and both sweet potatoes and yams are excellent sources of these types of carbs. Studies suggest that eating canned sweet potatoes or yams (uncooked obviously) has no bearing on nutritional value (i.e. nutrients are not being lost in the canning process), apparently its almost as good as eating'em fresh. Just my 2 cents.

Best,
TWB

 

[ThomasRivera]

If you want to remove more of the sodium out of canned vegetables, then you remove the liquid, move the vegetables into a container with more water, much more water than the can actually is. The salt will be drawn out as a balance is created.

I know there are alot of health nuts that support raw foods to get all the nutrients you can, but the cellulose I believe traps a good deal of the nutrients anyway and cooking loosens those bonds.

 

[KBmane]

steamed vegetables are the way to go, you get all of the nutrients and everything in them

 

[Steveoph]

See http://www.mealtime.org/uploadedFiles/Mealtime/Content/ucdavisstudyexecutivesummary.pdf or the full 14-page review http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/datastorefiles/234-779.pdf

Basic Read = http://www.tbrhsc.net/patient_information/nutrition_articles/frozen_fresh_or_canned.asp

 

[raginfcktard]

veggies are for salads and salads are for elementary school teachers. can't afford to waste room where i can put carbs and protein!