Anti-inflammatory Fruits and Veggies — Fresh, Canned or Frozen?

There’s nothing quite like eating a handful of freshly picked blueberries on a warm summer day, each bite bursting with flavor and inflammation-fighting polyphenols, bone-building minerals and must-have vitamins. Surprisingly, you can get nearly the same nutrition from a bag of frozen blueberries.

Despite what you might have assumed, fresh produce may not be more nutritious than frozen produce. Even canned fruits and veggies are a good source of many of the inflammation-fighting nutrients found in the produce section of your grocery store.

水果和蔬菜富含重要的维生素和矿物质，是膳食纤维的良好来源，可以增加饱腹感，帮助阻止暴饮暴食，帮助控制给疼痛的关节带来压力的超重。其中许多含有有助于对抗与关节炎相关的炎症的营养物质。

“One of the key nutrients that play a vital role in risk reduction [of RA inflammation] is vitamin C in foods like broccoli, strawberries, citrus fruit, peppers, cabbage, collard greens, melons, potatoes and tomatoes,” says registered dietitian Angela Ginn, senior education coordinator at the University of Maryland and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Frozen and Canned Produce

Are nutrients in frozen and canned fruits and vegetables on par with fresh produce? It depends.

“Nutrition is not always as straightforward as you’d like it to be,” says Gene Lester, a U.S. Department of Agricultural plant physiologist who specializes in the nutritional content of plants and fruits.

Many things factor into produce’s nutritional makeup – the soil it’s grown in, when it’s picked, how it’s preserved and even the way a vegetable or fruit is prepared.

Diane M. Barrett, PhD, a fruit and vegetable products specialist in the University of California, Davis’s Food Science and Technology department, notes “When fruits and vegetables are allowed to ripen to their peak eating quality before being harvested and then quickly frozen to lock in their nutrients, flavor and color, they may be superior,” Barrett says.

商业水果和蔬菜通常是在它们达到营养高峰之前采摘的，所以它们可以在运输途中成熟。相比之下，冷冻水果和蔬菜通常是在更成熟的状态下采摘，然后速冻。蔬菜罐头经过类似的过程，密封了许多营养物质。Here are a few frozen and canned selections that might surprise you:

• Raspberries.Scientists discovered that levels of antioxidants, including vitamin C, polyphenols and anthocyanins, are about the same in frozen raspberries as fresh.
• Green peas.Research found that freezing peas helps preserve vitamin C levels that fresh peas quickly lose after being harvested.
• Peaches.Canned peaches in light syrup have more vitamin C than their fresh counterparts.
• Spinach.Cup for cup, frozen, chopped spinach actually contains higher concentrations than fresh spinach of a range of nutrients, including folate, vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin K and calcium. These nutrients build stronger bones and lower the risk of high blood pressure.

Still, preservation methods are not without their drawbacks.

Some important nutrients like B vitamins and vitamin C are water-soluble; in canned goods, those vitamins leach into the packing water. But other nutrients – including vitamins A, D, E and K, and fiber – survive this process.

The important thing is to eat more vegetables and fruit, whether they’re canned, frozen or fresh. Not only do they deliver nutritional value, they can replace less healthy choices that people make, says Lester. “The more mouthfuls of vegetables you eat, the [fewer] mouthfuls of fattier foods you’ll eat.”

Related Resources:

• Best Fruits for Arthritis
• Best Vegetables for Arthritis
• Summer Fruits and Vegetables to Relieve Inflammation
• Health Benefits of Berries