One of the first things we're told to do for optimal health is, "Eat more vegetables." "Aww! Do I have to? Does ketchup count?" The brain gets that it is good for you to eat more veggies but the heart would really rather eat more Krispy Kremes or Deep Dish pizza.
If a vegetable is a vegetable, what difference would it make if it was served fresh from a garden, from a can, or frozen from a bag? There is actually a meaningful difference, and it has to do with the nutrient potency of the vegetable which includes enzyme muscle. Here's a simple way to look at it:
Every step a vegetable has to go through between the ground and your fork, the more it loses its health-giving enzymes and vitamins. (more after the jump)
When food is processed for canning and bagging, preservatives, flavorings, sugars, and sodium can be added to the vegetables. Even cooking fresh veggies for too long or at too high heat can kill off it's health-giving benefits. When juicing, it is best to drink at the moment the juice is made because time and oxygen starts to take away from the freshness, the flavor and the nutrients.
Canning and bagging won't strip away all the health-giving benefits, but it does affect the potency level of those benefits. If you live in a place where fresh vegetables are limited, it's still beneficial to eat canned and bagged produce. Just check the nutritional label, and if you can get organic, that's even better. The whole reason you need to eat the veggies in the first place is to reap the optimal health benefits so you feel fantastic, and to help you get and stay slim and trim.
