Frozen Vegetables Can Be as Nutritious as Fresh
Fresh spinach can lose up to half its vitamin C before it reaches your kitchen, while frozen vegetables hold onto nutrients longer.
Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell · Processed Food Won’t Kill YouThat bag of frozen vegetables in your freezer may be as nutritious as the fresh greens in your refrigerator.
For example, fresh spinach may shed as much as half its vitamin C on the way to your kitchen. Freezing slows that decline, so frozen spinach loses less vitamin C over time.
Fresh spinach is not always more nutritious than frozen spinach, because spinach can lose vitamin C during the time it sits before it is eaten.
Questions people ask
Does freezing itself destroy vitamins?
Freezing slows nutrient loss rather than stopping it completely. Some water-soluble vitamins like C and B can dip slightly during blanching before freezing, but frozen vegetables generally keep most of their vitamins for months when kept frozen solid.
How can I keep fresh vegetables nutritious longer?
Buy local and in season when you can, refrigerate greens promptly, and eat them sooner rather than later. Storing spinach and other leafy greens cold, dry, and sealed helps slow vitamin loss, though it does not stop it entirely.