Are You On A Diet, Is Frozen Food Healthy?

Illustration of frozen berries (Unsplash / Ashaley Winkler)

JAKARTA - Frozen food can be a helper when your stomach suddenly struggles asking for food to be filled. In addition, efforts to save money can also be helped a little by buying frozen food on special days, for example a discount offer every Friday.

Perishable foods can also be stored frozen. The problem is, is it still healthy or the nutrition is maintained, especially for consumption by those who are running a diet?

Launching Verywell fit, Thursday, February 25, freezing healthy food or not depends on the condition of the food. Frozen fruits and vegetables can be as nutrient dense as fresh foods. This is different if the frozen ones are pizza, snacks and desserts.

The freezing process does not affect the amount of nutrients in the food. Suppose you are freezing peas and carrots. The calorie, fiber, and mineral content of frozen ingredients will not change.

It's just that the freezing process can make a difference in some vitamin content, such as vitamin C. However, from various frozen food products, most of the nutritional value of food will last during the preservation process by freezing.

Well, freezing also does not change the amount of fat, protein, carbohydrates and sugar in certain foods. What changes is the water content in the food.

For those of you who are on a diet, it is advisable to choose plain vegetables. Compared to frozen foods that have been processed and added with high-calorie sauces, sodium and sugar, of course vegetables are the main choice for your healthy life program.

Fruits also need to be selected in a state without any mixture before freezing. Because often frozen fruit has added sugar and syrup, you need to observe the composition and processing of the product on the back of the package.

As for snacks, of course you don't want to keep foods that contain micro nutrients such as rolls, sandwiches, burritos, and pizza. Most recommended, choose foods that are most natural and definitely contain nutrients.

For example, if you want to store frozen foods high in protein, you can choose fresh meat, fish, poultry and seafood. Because according to experts, these foods will not cause problems, especially a decrease in nutritional levels.

For fruit, it is advisable to peel it first and place it in a closed container then it can be frozen. Well, what's a little tricky is how to freeze vegetables. Because, before you put it in the freezer, you need to boil it first.

Vegetables can be best stored in the freezer after boiling for a minute or two in boiling water. No problem for meat, fish and chicken. Because there is no need for processing before freezing unless preparing a proper container to store it.

What needs to be considered, when processing frozen meat it needs to be thawed first. Otherwise, the inner maturity level will be less.

It is not recommended to normalize meat at room temperature for two hours or more. Because bacteria can reproduce within that time. So, you can boil it before processing it according to your menu plan.

Want to prepare a daily menu for the next week? Frozen foods can be an option, but pay attention to the storage and serving suggestions above.