The five-a-day idea is now a well accepted part of planning a sensible healthy diet. Including at least five portions of fruit and five portions of vegetables can have a really positive impact on our long term health. As part of weight loss planning, they are invaluable, if only for the fibre they provide.
However, many people claim that it is not easy to include all five every day. This can certainly be true and is also made more difficult by one mistaken belief, which surveys show the majority of people hold. The mistaken belief is that we need to have a large meal at night to be ready to go to sleep. The truth is that we do not need a large meal to be ready to go to sleep. This is thinking that fresh produce is always superior to frozen. There are a number of reasons why this particular belief may not be true and to include frozen fruit and frozen vegetables in a healthy weight loss diet can indeed have many advantages. Firstly, in terms of food value - the nutrients contained within the food. That which is 'fresh' on the shelves might not actually be so fresh. Transport and storage can mean that many of your shop-bought fresh fruits and vegetables might have lost up to half their nutrition value. Produce in the freezer was often frozen in the peak of its condition, so at time of cooking has at least as much - if not more - food value as that bought 'fresh'. So if you can not eat fresh from your own garden, frozen food can be a good idea. There are also some frozen foods which can score higher on taste as well. They are usually harvested in their best condition, while some of those for sale fresh must be picked early, to make sure they last long enough on the shelves. This means that sometimes a lot of the natural flavor is lost. I often wonder how much thought the people who supply us with fresh produce give to how it will taste. It’s possible that some of the tasteless vegetables we buy are picked too early and then held in cold storage until they’re needed. When you take into account the general all-year-round availability and the cost advantages - frozen can be twenty percent cheaper than fresh - there can be many reasons to include some frozen fruits and vegetables in a healthy weight loss diet. They are particularly good in smoothies and frozen fruit desserts. The first issue to be aware of is the size of the frozen fruit versus the fresh. The larger the fruit, the more calories it will have. Variety is usually one of the keys to keeping a good diet interesting, so making it easier to stick with. Including some frozen produce can give you the opportunity to ring the changes, when there is not so much choice on the fresh shelf. It really is not a case of which is better, fresh or frozen. Both can have their place in a well planned healthy diet. Keep your mind open for ideas and suggestions. This will help greatly in your quest for a good healthy weight loss diet.
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