Getting The Most Nutritional Value From Fruits And Vegetables by
Kim Black
You're eating lots of fruits and vegetables every day,
but are you sure you're getting the most nutritional value
from them, and what can you do to improve how many nutrients
you are getting. To understand we need to take a deeper look
at the trip that fruits and vegetables make to get to your
table.
Many different factors can affect the nutritional value
of fruits and vegetables before they reach your table. The
two most important are time and traveling conditions. The
shorter the time frame that the fruit is packed until it
reaches your table the better. If you are lucky enough to
have a home garden try to pick your vegetables early in the
morning for peak flavor and nutritional value. The next best
choice is to use a local market stand. Generally the foods
they are selling were picked within a few hours of being set
out for sale. If there are no local markets in your area
like most people you'll be forced to shop at a supermarket.
Before any produce reaches your local supermarket it must
first be picked, and packaged. If the food is coming to you
from the same state or neighboring state chances are it was
picked within 48 hours of reaching the stores shelves. If
you're produce is making it way from California to New York
chances are it was picked 7 to 10 days ago. Why do you need
to be concerned about when something was harvested? When any
produce is picked off of the vine it is at its nutritional
peak value. It starts to lose that value as time passes, the
more time that passes, and the more value it loses.
The second biggest contributor is handling. If care is
taken no to bruise or damage the exterior skin produce will
last longer. Additionally storing a produce at the proper
temperature will also help slow down the loss of nutrients.
Here's where it gets a little tricky, some fruits like
temperatures as high as 60 degrees, and other prefer
temperatures in the mid 30's. So the longer your food is in
transit, and the more care that it shown to handling it
properly the more packed with nutrients it is likely to be
when it hits the shelves of your local supermarket.
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