The FDA has concluded that frozen fruits and vegetables are just as healthy as fresh and may even retain their nutritional value longer.
Wild
Blue Yonder: Health magazine
picks the Wild Ones
Wild Blueberries are the healthy food focus of Health Magazine’s
August 2006 issue. In a story entitled “Wild Blue Yonder,”
author Frances A. Largeman, RD, recounts a visit to the barrens
near Bar Harbor, Maine, where she discovers the “intense,
tangy-sweet flavor and supercharged health benefits” of Wild
Blueberries. Commenting on the many ways Wild Blueberries differ
from the cultivated kind, Largeman cites USDA antioxidant
research ranking Wild Blueberries as the number-one antioxidant
fruit, with a score of more than 13,000 for total antioxidant
capacity. In comparison, cultivated blueberries score around
9,000 (for comparison, Gala apples come in at 3,900).
Antioxidants, notes Largeman, “not only help scavenge the free
radicals in your body that cause aging, but they can also fight
inflammation, which is one of the main causes of diseases like
arthritis and cancer.” Largeman recommends buying Wild
Blueberries fresh in late summer and frozen from the supermarket
year-round. The article includes several blueberry recipes —
according to Largeman, “some of our favorite (and tastiest) ways
to stay young.”