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Nearly every health expert will be quick to tell you that it’s a good idea to load up your shopping cart with more vegetables and fruits. Their unique nutritional stew of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals is key to lasting health.

But sometimes fresh options in the produce aisle don’t look so fresh and are expensive, especially when out of season locally.

That’s when it’s time to head to the frozen food department for the unsung subzero heroes of the supermarket. Certainly, fruits and veggies don’t always have to be fresh to be best. And in some cases, frozen food provides you with more nutrients than fresh.

There’s a common misconception that frozen fruits and veggies are not as healthy as their fresh counterparts, but New York City dietitian Deborah Malkoff-Cohen said this is not necessarily true.

“Fruits and vegetables are picked when they are at their peak ripeness and flash-frozen to retain all of their nutrients, antioxidants and flavor,” she said. And this occurs shortly after harvesting, so think of the process as Mother Nature’s pause button.

Many vegetables undergo blanching in hot water for a short time before freezing to inactivate enzymes that degrade color, smell, flavor and nutritional value. As a result, some items like green peas and peaches retain a much more appetizing, vibrant color when frozen than when canned.

Contrast this with fresh out-of-season produce fated for long-haul shipping. These are generally picked before ripe and, in turn, fall short of their full nutritive and flavor potential. Plus, long-haul transport from farm to fork and lengthy storage times can further degrade nutrition and taste.

To this point, an analysis of frozen and fresh-stored fruits and vegetables published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis found that in many cases, items like broccoli, green beans, corn and blueberries retained higher levels of vitamin C, beta-carotene and folate when in frozen form compared to fresh, as these nutrients are diminished during days of refrigerator storage.

Cup for cup, Malkoff-Cohen called out frozen spinach for having notably higher amounts of fiber, iron, folate and calcium than its fresh counterpart.

Overall, a study in the journal Nutrients

shows that people who sneak more frozen fruits and vegetables into their diets take in higher amounts of must-have nutrients like fiber, calcium and potassium.

Still, Malkoff-Cohen recommended opting for fresh produce when it is in season, especially if items are locally grown or come from a nearby farm stand. “For some dishes like stir-fries and salads, sometimes you just want the crunchy texture of fresh.”

Easy way to eat healthy

Busy schedules can make it a challenge to prep and cook fresh produce all of the time. Buying frozen veggies and fruit — which are often already chopped, pitted or peeled — can make healthy eating more convenient.

Simply toss a few cups of frozen broccoli florets into a soup, stir some cherries into  oatmeal, toss thawed corn kernels into a bean salad, and whip up a smoothie with cubed frozen mango.

With a quick heat in the microwave, pre-chopped frozen vegetable mixes can be your answer to an ultra-quick side-dish.

“The variety of fruits and vegetables you eat can increase tremendously when you add in frozen types,” said Malkoff-Cohen. And that is a pathway to eating a more nutritionally diverse diet.

Boiling can reduce nutrients

But preparation matters when it comes to the nutrition on your plate. When you grab that bag of frozen cauliflower and start preparing dinner, boiling runs the risk of leeching out water-soluble nutrients like vitamin C and folate.

Malkoff-Cohen suggested steaming, microwaving, roasting and stir-frying as less destructive cooking methods.

If you’re looking to cut back on food waste and its added cost to you and the environment, by buying frozen you don’t have to worry about eating your frozen raspberries before white fuzz takes over. Space permitting, you can buy a lot more frozen veggies and fruits well in advance and use them in the weeks to come.

And these days there are more exciting options than ever, ranging from deep freeze dragon fruit to jazz up your next smoothie to frozen cauliflower “rice” that  replaces a starch with a low-calorie veggie serving for tonight’s stir-fry.

Securing your frozen assets

Choose bags of frozen fruits and vegetables where you can feel the individual contents. A bag that feels like a block of ice has been partially thawed and refrozen, which degrades quality.

Steer clear of frozen fruits and vegetables with added sweeteners, salt or mysterious sauces. “You just want to see fruits or vegetables in the ingredient list,” Malkoff-Cohen said.

Stored in a zero-degree freezer, frozen fruits and vegetables have a shelf-life of about one year before their flavor, texture and nutrients suffer. Once the food has been opened, store extras in an air-tight bag so they don’t get freezer burn.

Reprinted with permission from Environmental Nutrition, a monthly publication of Belvoir Media Group, LLC, 1-800-829-5384, EnvironmentalNutrition.com.

© Belvoir Media Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.