How to Avoid Buying Nutrition-Deficient Fruits and Vegetables
Not only have our diets been getting worse over the years (ever larger portions, ever richer and fattier dishes, ever more grotesque food choices such as doughnut burgers and chocolate-covered bacon), but even the foods we’re told are good for us have been on the decline, nutrition-wise. Several studies over the past decade or so have determined that commercially grown vegetables don’t have the nutritional quality or value that they had just 30 years ago.
A University of Texas analysis of 43 fruits and veggies in 2004, for example, found notable reductions in vitamin, mineral and protein content between 1950 and 1999. The amount of broccoli that packed 130 mg of calcium 50 years ago now delivers just 48 mg, for instance.
Some Bananas and Bell Peppers are Better Than Others
The reasons for this general nutritional decline aren’t yet clear, but researchers speculate that the breeding and fertilizing techniques now used commercially to accelerate the growth process also lead to a reduction in nutrients. Whatever the cause, the falloff in nutritional content is important to those who are trying to include more fruit and veggies in their diet. The challenge becomes how to select and prepare produce items so as to maximize their nutritional contribution to your body.
MSNBC tossed that challenge at a number of experts and came up with a short list of tips on how to get the most nutritional bang for your buck in the produce section. Here’s a summary.
Buy organic. There is evidence that fruits and vegetables grown without synthetic fertilizers contain more nutrients than the non-organic version.
The more color, the better. To get a complete spectrum of vitamins and minerals, go beyond green veggies and include items from across the color spectrum: red, yellow, purple, orange and combinations thereof. Also, the deeper and more intense the color of the produce, the more healthy phytochemicals, such as beta-carotene, are likely present.
Buy the junior sized produce. The smaller apple, bell pepper, zucchini or other produce item will have about as many nutrients as the larger one, but in more concentrated form.
Try steaming your veggies, a process that retains more nutrients in broccoli, carrots and some other veggies than boiling or even eating them raw.
Eat fresh. It’s the “new car” principle: Produce items’ nutritional value begins to drop the minute they’re harvested, so try to consume all fruits and veggies within a week after buying them.
As much as possible, leave them alone. Don’t buy pre-sliced or pre-shredded or already-peeled produce items, since the very act of chopping can drain nutrients, and edible peels (apples, potatoes, etc.) are particularly rich in healthy chemicals. Minimize your own slicing and peeling, and prepare your fruit and veggie dishes just before eating them.
Go local if you can. Produce at farmers’ markets is generally riper and fresher than the supermarket version, and both ripeness and freshness are nutrient boosters. If they’re also grown without growth-inducing fertilizers, you’ve scored a produce hat trick.
(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News):
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