Frozen Fruit and Vegetables: Are They Good For You?

Everybody knows that you need to eat plenty of fruit if you are looking after your wellness and wellbeing. Vegetables are also a vital part of your diet and nutrition, but it can be hard to always get fresh fruit and veg as it does not store well for very long. Many surveys have shown that people throw out a great deal of spoiled fruit and veg every year, which leads to people turning to store cupboard alternatives such as canned and frozen. But are these products as good as the fresh ones?

 

The answer may well surprise you; whilst it’s true that some fruits and vegetables lose nutrients and flavour when frozen, others thrive brilliantly in your freezer compartment. We’ve put together a list of the best products to eat frozen.

 

Frozen corn kernels are a prime example. When you try these you will find that they have a great deal more flavour than the canned variety, and they are also far better for you. Corn also undergoes a blanching process before being frozen, which can boost zeaxanthin and lutein levels (which help to fight against vision loss) by a large amount. You should consume your frozen corn within six months though.

 

Frozen peas are great, too, having nearly as much flavour and nutrients as the fresh variety. The freezing process even increases the antioxidant activity of peas. Just half a cup of frozen peas provides you with 13 percent of your daily vitamin C requirement, and they last for ages in the freezer. A study found that they had lost less than 10 percent of their nutrients after a whole year in the freezer.

 

We all know the blueberries are fantastic for health, and the good news is that when they are frozen they don’t use any of their wonderful properties. Frozen blueberries can even be microwaved for a minute to boost the levels of anthocyanin (flavonoids that help prevent cancer and heart disease) before consuming.

Categories: freezer, fresh, frozen, frozen corn, frozen peas, fruit, nbsp, nbsp frozen, vegetables

Fertility Facts: Should You Consider Freezing Your Eggs?

In past years, the technology involved in the process has been fairly poor. The wellness of the eggs was not guaranteed, as ice crystals tended to form that killed off the cells in the egg. This meant that only one in about 1,000 IVF cycles using frozen eggs would result in a baby.

 

In more recent years, however, freezing eggs became a serious option for those wishing to extend their sexual and reproductive wellbeing. A new technology called vitrification emerged from Japan in 2004, and this allows doctors to freeze eggs without creating any crystals. Unlike previous methods, eggs frozen using vitrification have around a 40 or 50 percent chance of creating a viable baby if used in an IVF cycle.

 

As a result of this great leap forward in technology, doctors now recommend that any single woman who wants children but is not ready yet and fears for her reproductive health should freeze their eggs of have an ovary biopsy. The age that is recommended for this process is around 30.

 

In an ovary biopsy, an outer shell of the ovary is taken off and frozen with the eggs stored inside it. When you are ready to attempt conception, the doctors replace the layer of tissue back into your ovary, and it should re-attach just like a skin graft. Microsurgery binds it together with tiny sutures, and the ovary should then become functional again. Ovary biopsies are cheaper and far more comfortable than IVF procedures, although both will require you to undergo general anaesthetic.

 

Ovary biopsy and reimplantation costs around $10,000, but it is a very simple procedure, and around 100,000 eggs are frozen within the ovary as part of the process. With IVF, on the other hand, it can cost up to $50,000 and you are only freezing around 10 to 15 eggs at any one time.

Categories: Eggs, freezing, frozen, IVF, nbsp, ovary, ovary biopsy, process

On a Budget? Don’t Let It Affect Your Diet

Everyone knows that fast food and unhealthy snacks are cheaper than organic foods, and this is part of the reason that people are becoming so unhealthy. Choosing home-cooked meals created from fresh ingredients seems so much more difficult than sitting down and ordering a meal that’s prepared for you, but your health is suffering as a result. And when you’re on a budget, it seems even harder. There are ways around this though – it’s simply a matter of making healthier decisions that don’t compromise on cost. For example, one of the easiest ways to make a healthier meal is to opt for whole foods – these are ingredients that have been harvested and packaged, without being processed in any way. As such, they’re usually cheaper than foods which have been given flavourings and preservatives. If you’re trying to eat healthier, these are a great way to begin as you have more control over what you’re eating. Another tip is to eat cheaper proteins. This is commonly associated with meat, as steaks and lamb joints can be pretty expensive. Opting for cheaper cuts, such as lean chicken or turkey, as well as eggs and whey, could help you stay healthy and on budget. It may not be quite as tasty but it does the job for less cash.

 

Frozen foods often get overlooked, but they’re a great way to stay on budget as well as making healthier choices. We often attribute frozen foods with unhealthy diets, thanks to the influx of ready meals and junk food, but frozen vegetables and fruits are often actually healthier as they’re frozen immediately after being picked, so that they retain more nutrients. They also save you time as they’re prepared before being frozen, so you don’t have to worry about cutting and removing anything when you come to cook them. They have a longer shelf life, so you can buy in large quantities without worrying about them spoiling in the back of the fridge. And they’re cheap, so you can get your five a day without it costing the earth. If you buy own brand, not just in frozen foods but across the board, you’ll save yourself money but not taste. Store brands aren’t lower in quality, they simply lack the fancy advertising and packaging. The taste is generally the same, but you’ll notice a big difference in how much you pay. And if you’re worried about lacking nutrients in your diet, you could use a supplement. Though they shouldn’t be relied upon, supplements are a great way of boosting your diet and ensuring that you don’t become deficient.

Use the seasons as a guide for what you should be eating, as you’ll pay less for the goods and also get fruit and vegetables at their best. For example, buying strawberries in the winter will cost you as you’ll be paying for the supermarkets to import them from other countries. By working out the seasons for your favourite produce, you’ll save yourself money, get ingredients that are packed with nutrients and also be better in flavour. If you’re finding that being on a budget is making you hungry, you may want to fill up on calorie dense foods, such as pasta and potatoes. They may not be loaded with vitamins and minerals, but they fill you up and are cheap to buy. Ingredients like pasta are also great store cupboard essentials, as they are cheap but last for ages. Canned goods are also great for this – tinned vegetables, fruits and legumes will bulk up your diet without costing you loads in waste and expensive fresh foods.

Categories: budget, diet, foods, frozen, frozen foods, Healthier, ll save, nutrients