yes, that's what I heard when I was an agricultural student, in the 1970s. It's because eg peas are picked before dawn, when their sugar level is highest, and flash frozen, sealing in all that nutrition. (Not entirely sure that 'sugar level' exactly equals 'nutrition', but you'd think that would apply to other nutritive bits as well.)
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I wish these packaged greens would come in smaller sizes. I spend $3.49 for a bag of arugula and end up throwing most of it away.
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Precut and prewashed lettuce has become much more popular lately and for good reason. Just pop open the bag, add some dressing and you have a salad. Sometimes, when I was traveling, I would do just this and eat it right out of the bag. Doesn't get much healthier in my book.
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I am told that frozen vegetables have the most nutritional value because they are flash frozen..anyone know if this is true ?
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have always felt that packaged greens were drier than loose greens. So I take out as many packaged greens as I need and soak them in cold water for up to a couple of hours. Then I spin them dry and make the salad. Probably doesn't restore vitamins but absorbing some moisture makes them "chew" better.
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You lose a lot of water soluble minerals and vitamins soaking your vegetable in water for 2 hours. Water content of lettuce is 95%. To make it more "chewable" you can always add more dressing, especially if it's home made http://food-remedies.com/classic-french-dressing/
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“Purchase greens when you plan to eat them,” she said, “and eat them as soon as possible.” Yes, agree.
The very best greens I eat come fresh picked from my brother's garden, wonderful flavor, and they even taste healthy. Organic of course. I also buy both fresh and packaged greens from the store, again organic. All greens should be washed, even if they're 'prewashed'.
Wish Victory Gardens would come back into fashion!
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Packaged and non-packaged sometimes lettuces once in a while bother my stomach and I'm wondering why.
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Responding to multiple commenters who disparage bagged greens:
I'm unclear how something picked by humans, put into boxes by humans, unpacked at the store and picked over by customers can somehow be cleaner than something picked, then washed and packed in bags and not touched again till I open it. And in the case of head lettuce, I can see how the leaves might be fresher if I'm the one pulling them off minutes before eating. But I don't see how that applies to leaf greens (spinach, kale, chard, spring mix), which are what I prefer.
If anyone has facts to back up their assertions of what's obvious to them, by all means post links, as the author does. Failing that, my rule is that the more obvious something is to someone, the less likely it is to be true.
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Nobody seems to be talking about taste in all of this. Bagged salad greens don't taste nearly as fresh as those that come directly off the lettuce head.
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It's not just the packaging, shipping and storing of "fresh" vegetables that is questionable, (and there are continuously more and more prepared fresh, packaged vegetables), but how are they washed? Is it pure water?
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The biggest problem with prepackaged salads is their possible contamination with E.coli and other harmful microorganisms. The greens should be rewashed before use, never eaten straight from the package. Much safer, cheaper and healthful to buy whole greens and wash them yourself.
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It's always bagged lettuce and bagged cut vegetables that end up causing disease outbreaks. I've seen people walk out of public bathrooms without washing their hands (not to mention the men who urinate in neighbors' gardens, and heaven knows they're not washing their hands either).
Where do these people work? Bad enough they're riding the subways and holding the same poles as those who wash their hands; but they could be handling your food too.
Still, you gotta live. . . .
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While it is good to address this issue I for one would like to know why the United States of America ranks 35 on the list of the world's healthiest countries. This is simply unacceptable.
One answer to health care costs is to prevent sickness in the first place yet we simpley do not bother. I guess there is no profit in staying healthy.
Get sick it is good for the economy.
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It’s true. Prevention of disease is not profitable but would save not only money but lives. Similar to energy conservation. We can’t sell you energy if you’re not using it.
25
no money for MDs' selling kale
14
Sorry, but this is wildly incorrect. One cup of uncooked spinach contains roughly 2500-2800 IU of Vitamin A, about half of our daily requirement. Most of that is retained after storage and cooking. Go look at the USDA Tables of Nutrient Values.
7
The article doesn't contradict anything you say. It said the very same thing you did about Vitamin A. The concern is about B vitamins and C.
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Pre-washed, bagged greens may not have as much nutrition but they most certainly increase the possibility of containing salmonella.
Wash them again before eating to be sure they're 'clean'.
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I don't like the huge hassle of cleaning lettuce. This is the whole reason to buy this stuff.
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And to anticipate the follow-up, hypothyroid conditions, typically mild, occur in about 4.5% of people in the United States. Those 4.5% will be less efficient at cleaving the precursor molecule (beta-carotene) into two of Vitamin A, although some conversion will occur in all but the most severe cases. Moreover, a typical diet with even modest amounts of fruits and vegetables has multiple sources of Vitamin A, and Vitamin A deficiencies are rare in the United States, occurring in well under 1% of the population. It is more common in poorer regions of the world that have childhood diets predominately of carbohydrates such as rice, yams, or corn.
12
I am not certain what follow-up youre anticipating, but there are no cases of hypo-thyroidism in the literature that were caused by washing vegetables. There is this thing called Google you can use to find articles that go well with a dressing of hobby horse.
16
Spinach and other greens do not contain vitamin A, which is only found in animal-derived sources of food. Spinach contains beta-carotene which is a precursor to vitamin A, but can only be converted to vitamin A through optimal thyroid function and other factors that vary between individuals. It is not safe to assume that those consuming beta-carotene have healthy levels of vitamin A.
29
Apparently, not even animals contain "vitamin A:" -- While free retinol is not generally found in foods, retinyl palmitate, a precursor and storage form of retinol, is found in animal-derived foods such as liver, milk, milk products, egg yolks, cheese, and fish.
Plant foods usually contain vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene (provitamin A). Plants contain carotenoids, some of which are precursors for vitamin A (e.g., alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin). -- http://www.nutri-facts.org/en_US/nutrients/vitamins/a/sources.html
7
While the form of vitamin A found in animal products (retinol) is the active and necessary form for human life, beta-carotene still counts as vitamin A and will keep most out of true deficiency. Unfortunately, it is just converted to the active form at a dismal level.
Also, it is much easier to overdose on retinol. You can consume 100,000% of your daily needs of beta-carotene, and at worst your skin will develop an orange tint. Meanwhile, there have been cases of humans dying after consuming polar bear liver - one of the most dense sources of retinol.
I don't mean to contradict your point, since your underlying message (eat a more varied diet and don't fear animal products) is sound. I just wanted to expand upon it for the sake of future readers.
Takeaway message - fill your plate with veggies of all kinds, but also complete the dish with a properly raised protein source (wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, eggs from pasture-raised chickens, etc).
45
Please save your scare tactics for a less educated audience. We're on to the meat industry's game. The truth is, healthy individuals have no problem converting beta-carotene into vitamin A. You know how individuals stay healthy? They do so by eating lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
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