Eating fruits and veggies in a variety of colors can give you a broad range of nutrients. So “think variety, think color” and you will get a wonderful variety of nutrients too. When it comes to good nutrition, all forms of fruits and vegetables matter—fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100% juice. There are so many convenient options and a variety of convenient packaging to make fruits and vegetables easy to store and easy to serve – there’s really no excuses for not getting adequate fruits and vegetables servings per day. Here are a few things to remember about the convenient fruit options:
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Most frozen and canned foods are processed within hours of harvest, so their flavor and nutritional value are preserved.
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Studies show that recipes prepared with canned foods had similar nutritional values to those prepared with fresh or frozen ingredients.
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Canned foods are cooked prior to packaging, so they are recipe ready.
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Frozen foods also require little preparation—washing and slicing, for instance, is already done.
Remember to save money and to get the best tasting fresh produce, you should choose fruits that are in season. Here’s a list of the fruits that are in season during the months of March, April, and May – apricots, honeydew, mango, oranges, limes, pineapple, rhubarb, and strawberries.
Let’s take a look at the nutritional content of strawberries (see label below). Strawberries are found in local markets nationwide during the spring and there are tons of nutritional benefits from 1 cup of berries. Eating just 1 cup of these fruits provides 160% of your daily vitamin C and 220 mg of potassium for less than 50 calories. Remember, the juicier the fruit the lower calorie content.
Remember, you can enjoy the taste of any fruit or vegetable year-round by using the canned, frozen, or dried variety – it all counts! Next week we will take a look at another fruit from a different season.
Rebecca
