Vegging Out How Do You Get The Most Our Of Produce? Buy It Fresh And Eat It Quickly

We like the most bang for our buck. The most miles per gallon. The best deal at a sale. The most nutritious vegetable in the produce bin.

Whoops, cancel that last one.

We don’t always push the produce aisles to the limit. Sometimes we’re really good - and get those five servings of fruit and vegetables a day - and sometimes we’re not. Something as simple as peeling an orange, a little round powerhouse of vitamin C, takes too much time.

But we can maximize the power of fruits and vegetables by understanding a few things: which are best (fresh, frozen or canned), and how to cook and store them to keep their nutrients intact. Then we can make them work best for us.

Questions? Here are some answers:

Q. I buy everything fresh. Sometimes the produce might sit for a week, but we still eat it. Isn’t fresh best?

A. Most of the time. A simple rule of thumb, nutritionists say, is to think of fresh as best. Fill your shopping cart with deep-colored vegetables and fruits such as sweet potatoes and oranges, leafy greens and fresh strawberries, suggests Gail Frank, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Let the kids choose some foods. Buy seasonally. Work the fruits and vegetables into your meals and make them regular snacks. Just be sure to eat them within a few days, and cook and store them properly. Otherwise, you’ll have nutrient loss.

Q. Nutrient loss? Is that a new diet?

A. Nutrient loss is like what happens when a new car is driven off the lot; once a fruit or vegetable is pulled from the ground or plucked from a tree, its value begins dropping. If you eat from your garden, buy from a farmers market or know you’re getting the freshest produce from the grocery aisles, you’re getting the most nutrients you can from fruits and vegetables.

But allow something to sit, especially in heat or bright sun, and it can lose up to half its nutrient value, says Marilyn Swanson, head of the nutrition and food science department at South Dakota State University.

“So fresh is best, but make it something simple and easy to use,” she says. “And something that tastes good and is readily available.”

Q. What are some examples of nutrient loss?

A. Nutrient loss varies from fruit to fruit and vegetable to vegetable, and depends greatly on conditions. If you leave asparagus at room temperature rather than refrigerate it, for example, it can lose about half its vitamin C content in a couple of days, according to the “The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition” from the University of California, Berkeley (Random House). So rather than getting about 50 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, you’ll get closer to 25 percent.

Other factors, too, can drain the good stuff from produce. Here are some ways vegetables can lose vitamin C:

Cutting and shredding cabbage too far ahead of serving.

Letting cut celery stand in ice water in advance of eating.

Overcooking peas.

Placing potatoes in a cold pot of water to bring to a boil, rather than dropping them into a pot of boiling water.

Peeling pears and not eating the skin, where much of the vitamin C is found.

Broiling grapefruit, since heat usually destroys vitamin C. Canning, since the heating process can reduce nutrients.

Q. So how should I store my produce?

A. Most vegetables do best down in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, which works by protecting food from circulating air that draws out moisture. Don’t wash them until ready to use, and keep them in plastic bags.

Q. What about frozen vegetables? Are they better than fresh?

A. Sometimes they are. If you’ve got week-old broccoli and frozen broccoli, opt for the frozen. For one, it’s easier.

“Fresh and frozen are pretty equal, nutrient-wise. So make sure you have frozens in the freezer, especially for things like chopped spinach, when you can’t always tell the difference (between fresh and frozen),” says dietitian Evelyn Tribole, author of several healthy-eating cookbooks.

Plus, she says, frozen vegetables are easy embellishments - toss them into soups, spread them across baked potatoes, mix them with pasta. You can boost your veggie intake in minutes.

“I’d like to think everybody is going to cut up and chop red, yellow and green peppers for dinner, but if not, buy frozen. They pretty much retain their nutrient value,” agrees Swanson.

Q. And canned fruits and vegetables? Should I skip them?

A. Canned foods have their place, but it’s important, nutritionists say, to eat a variety of foods - canned, fresh and frozen. Sometimes canned vegetables can be high in sodium.

Thanks to new research, though, canned foods are looking better. Cooking Light magazine recently cited the work of University of Illinois Professor Barbara Klein, who has found that some brands of canned carrots, potatoes, spinach and pumpkin are slightly higher in vitamin A and C than their fresh-cooked counterparts.

Canned fruits, which lose varying amounts of vitamin C and beta carotene in processing, do not lose as many nutrients as vegetables since fruits are processed at lower temperatures. Plus, most people consume the juice the fruit is packed in.

Q. Is fruit juice as good as fresh fruit?

A. It’s the next best thing. Most nutrients are retained in juices, though not always the fiber - another important element of a good diet.

Drink fresh-squeezed juices for the maximum vitamin C, followed by canned or frozen, which hold onto vitamin C for months, according to “The Wellness Encyclopedia.” Juice can lose its vitamin C when exposed to oxygen, so chilled cartons aren’t always as good for storage as tightly closed glass containers. And be sure to buy beverages labeled “100 percent juice.”

Q. What about cooking? You mentioned you can lose nutrients that way.

A. You should eat what you like - both raw and cooked vegetables and fruits.

Carrots actually benefit from cooking; when they’re prepared crisp-tender, the cell walls break down and their nutrients become more accessible. But raw, they’re still terrific, supplying tons of vitamin A.

Here are some cooking and preparation methods that will get your veggies and fruits to go the distance:

If you can, leave edible skins on; most vitamins are found in the outer leaves, skin and area just below the skin.

Cut vegetables into large pieces; fewer exposed surfaces means greater nutrient retention.

Cook fruits and vegetables in a covered pot; cooking time will be faster.

Avoid soaking fruits and vegetables in water as you wash them; some vitamins and minerals dissolve in water.

Don’t overcook or overstir.

“Use the least amount of heat in general, and a shorter length of cooking time,” says Mark S. Meskin, a dietitian and associate professor of food, nutrition and consumer sciences at Cal Poly Pomona.

“The more you mix and cook, you’re stirring oxygen into a dish, and you can use up a lot of antioxidant nutrients.”

Steam, microwave or cook vegetables in the smallest amount of liquid possible to retain the most nutrients. Keeping vegetables tender-crisp - not overcooked - is best.

“The tender-crisp quality is more appealing. It looks better on the plate. We eat with our eyes first … and if food looks good and tastes good, nutrition happens,” says St. Louis dietitian Roberta Larson Duyff, author of the American Dietetic Association’s “Complete Food & Nutrition Guide” (Chronimed Publishing).

Q. Sometimes it’s hard to make sure I eat five servings of fruits or vegetables a day.

A. Think of getting at least five servings a day as a habit as natural as brushing your teeth, says Fred Caporaso, chairman of the food science and nutrition department at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

“You shouldn’t lose sleep over whether you’re eating canned, frozen or fresh fruits and vegetables,” he says. “Just eat a variety and enjoy.”