3108: Are Frozen Vegetables Just as Good as Fresh Ones?

Optimal Health Daily - Fitness and Nutrition

Optimal Living Daily LLC

Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Fitness

4.5 • 677 Ratings

🗓️ 5 September 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3108: Fresh, frozen, raw, or cooked, fruits and vegetables all bring their own nutritional advantages. Drawing from research by the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Neal Malik explains how frozen produce retains just as many nutrients as fresh, and how cooking methods like microwaving, steaming, or stir-frying can actually make certain vitamins and antioxidants more available to the body. With tips on maximizing flavor and preserving nutrients, he shows how a balanced mix of fresh, frozen, and cooked produce can help us get the most health benefits every day. Quotes to ponder: "According to the Harvard School of Public Health, when compared to fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen varieties have about the same amount of nutrients." "Lycopene in raw tomatoes is not very bioavailable. If we heat the tomatoes and turn them into, let’s say, pasta sauce - now the lycopene is more easily absorbed and used by the body." "Yes, frozen fruits and vegetables are just as good as fresh ones." Episode references: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily, and I'm Dr. Neil Malley.
0:05.9	Hey there, happy Friday, and welcome to another Q&A edition of Optimal Health Daily, where I answer
0:11.2	your health questions related to fitness, diet and nutrition, and lots more. You send in the questions,
0:17.1	and I answer them for you. Now, if you do send in a question, we'll physically mail you a copy
0:22.3	of our hardcover workbook as long as you're in the U.S. and we have some left. If you're outside
0:28.0	of the U.S., we'll email you a digital version. Now, I'll tell you how to send in a question
0:33.3	at the end of the show, but once a month, usually during the first Q&A episode of the month,
0:38.9	I mention a bit about my background and credentials, so you can better understand where my
0:43.3	perspectives come from. Given this is the first Q&A of the month, it's time. Now, I've always been
0:50.1	obsessed with Batman, but I wasn't always interested in the things I talk about on this
0:54.7	podcast, nutrition, exercise, health, and wellness. But being diagnosed with a chronic disease
1:00.8	at the age of 19 definitely changed my life's purpose and my obsessions. It was then I decided
1:07.4	to focus my attention on helping others. I didn't want anyone else to experience
1:11.9	a chronic disease diagnosis like I did, especially at a young age. Now, in order to do that,
1:17.9	I wanted to be sure I had some credibility. This is not meant to be a humble brag, but instead
1:23.0	gain your trust. I received both my master's and doctoral degrees in public health. And to make
1:28.8	sure I really covered all of my bases, I also became a registered dietitian nutritionist, a certified
1:33.8	health education specialist, and a certified exercise physiologist through the American College of
1:39.6	Sports Medicine. I've been teaching in higher education for a long time now, and I'm currently faculty
1:45.4	within the California State University system. I have published peer-reviewed studies. I've
1:50.5	presented at national and international conferences, and I've been interviewed by over 70
1:55.5	different media outlets for my expertise on basically everything I talk about on this podcast.
	...

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