WEBVTT - Is frozen food actually healthy?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Healthy Ish. Thanks for joining us on the

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<v Speaker 1>daily podcast from body and Soul. I hope you are

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<v Speaker 1>feeling healthy and also living the ish. I am your

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<v Speaker 1>host of Felicity Harley. The cost of living is no

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<v Speaker 1>doubt hurting most of us, especially as we hurtle towards

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas and the festive season. It seems to cost a

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<v Speaker 1>bit more to live. So one way we can save

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<v Speaker 1>money is with frozen food. Oh well that's what the

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<v Speaker 1>experts tell us, so is it actually healthy? I'm joined

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<v Speaker 1>today by nutrition and public health expert Louise Rubik. She

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<v Speaker 1>is a Senior Learning Facilitator of Nutrition at Torrens University, Australia,

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<v Speaker 1>and she shares her advice around using frozen food as

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<v Speaker 1>a replacement for fresh food. Now make sure you're listening

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<v Speaker 1>to our sister podcast, Extra Healthy Ish, where Louise gives

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<v Speaker 1>a rundown of the essential vitamins every woman, no matter

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<v Speaker 1>what life stage, needs to be eating. You can grab

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<v Speaker 1>that episode wherever you get your podcasts. Louise, thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us on healthy Is today. How are you healthish?

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<v Speaker 1>I hope yes, indeed, Thanks Felicity really glad to be

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<v Speaker 1>here with you. Now, this is an interesting topic because

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<v Speaker 1>frozen food is it healthy? I mean, we've got the

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<v Speaker 1>cost of living crisis. We all know that when we

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<v Speaker 1>look at our bank accounts and our budgets and so

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<v Speaker 1>much wisdoms out there encouraging us to buy and try

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<v Speaker 1>frozen over fresh. So what are the benefits of eating frozen, Well, there's.

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<v Speaker 2>Lots of different benefits of frozen foods that people may

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<v Speaker 2>not have considered aside from the cost. Obviously that's a

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<v Speaker 2>really big challenge for people at the moment. But a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of people don't think that frozen foods are necessarily.

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<v Speaker 3>As healthy as fresh.

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<v Speaker 2>We're always told to eat fresh foods where possible, but

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<v Speaker 2>the nutritional value in frozen foods is still just as

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<v Speaker 2>comparable as you would with fresh food, And particularly when

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<v Speaker 2>you think about it, sometimes you've got great intentions of

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<v Speaker 2>buying fresh food and might sit in the rotter as.

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<v Speaker 3>We might call it, in the bottom of the fridge.

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<v Speaker 2>And you'll actually lose a lot of nutrient values, particularly

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<v Speaker 2>some of those water soluble vitamins like vitamin C, some

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<v Speaker 2>of the big group vitamins.

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<v Speaker 3>They're lost within about twenty four hours.

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<v Speaker 2>Frozen foods can actually be picked and frozen at the site,

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<v Speaker 2>so they kind of lock in the nutrients. It does matter, though,

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<v Speaker 2>how you cook them. So if you then just throw

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<v Speaker 2>your frozen food straight into a pot of boiling water,

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<v Speaker 2>you're still likely to lose a lot of those water

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<v Speaker 2>soluble nutrients and they'll just get thrown down the sea.

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<v Speaker 1>Interesting. That's actually a really important point because I'm sure

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<v Speaker 1>people come home late throw the frozen vegetables straight in

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<v Speaker 1>the pot of boiling water, and they think, oh, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm just getting as much nutrients as I would be

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<v Speaker 1>if I cut a carrot put it in.

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<v Speaker 3>That's right. So it is cost effective and it's convenient

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<v Speaker 3>for the fact.

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<v Speaker 2>That it's also something that is already pre cut, which

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<v Speaker 2>is really handy, and you know, obviously in smaller portions

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<v Speaker 2>that might be really easy when you're cooking for a

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<v Speaker 2>family or even if you want something smaller. So in

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<v Speaker 2>that sense, it's also helping to reduce food waste as well,

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<v Speaker 2>which is really important because a lot of people don't

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<v Speaker 2>have the facilities to do composting or anything like that,

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<v Speaker 2>and we're really trying to minimize how much fresh food

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<v Speaker 2>waste goes into.

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<v Speaker 3>Our red bins.

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<v Speaker 2>But the availability is there and That's the other great

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<v Speaker 2>thing about frozen foods is there can be available all

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<v Speaker 2>year round, although we like to encourage people to eat seasonally,

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<v Speaker 2>so you're still eating within the seasons and with whatever

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<v Speaker 2>produce might be normally available for you throughout the spring

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<v Speaker 2>or throughout the summer, et cetera. We don't always have

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<v Speaker 2>the availability or accessibility to go to, say up a

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<v Speaker 2>great farmer's market, for instance, where you would be getting

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<v Speaker 2>really nice, fresh, freshly picked, in seasoned vegetables.

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<v Speaker 3>So frozen gives you a really good opportunity to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>Are you talking specifically about veggies and fruits, What about

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<v Speaker 1>other frozen foods like the fish and the things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>What's your take on that.

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<v Speaker 2>So proteins can do freeze quite well, and again that

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<v Speaker 2>would bring much more accessible nutrition if we're talking about fish,

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<v Speaker 2>for instance, with all the lovely amiga threes that that contains,

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<v Speaker 2>and the extra zinc and some of the b twelves

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<v Speaker 2>that you would get in those sorts of proteins. That

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<v Speaker 2>also makes it really accessible for people to get frozen

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<v Speaker 2>as opposed to fresh, where again that may not be

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<v Speaker 2>as accessible and even the cost of buying fresh food

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<v Speaker 2>or fresh fish and meat might also be quite challenging

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<v Speaker 2>as well, and it means that you can portion it

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<v Speaker 2>up a lot easier freeze it for another day. Fresh

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<v Speaker 2>fish doesn't last very long. You will really have to

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<v Speaker 2>cook it on the day that you buy it, or

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<v Speaker 2>at least within twenty four hours. So buying frozen is

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<v Speaker 2>a really good, viable option, and it's quite safe in

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<v Speaker 2>the freezer. The only issue is when it comes to

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<v Speaker 2>preparing it and defrosting it. You have to be very

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<v Speaker 2>very mindful to defrost in the fridge, preferably not on

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<v Speaker 2>the kitchen bench, because the uneven defrosting of the food

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<v Speaker 2>can actually harbor or promote an environment that might harbor bacteria.

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<v Speaker 2>You can really only cook food from a completely defrosted

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<v Speaker 2>state so that it cooks really evenly and you lose

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<v Speaker 2>any possibility of bacteria.

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<v Speaker 1>I think this is a great reminder that the freezer

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<v Speaker 1>is there. It's there. Cook double the I mean, double

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<v Speaker 1>the portion size, batch it off, freeze it. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a great way to instead of I don't know.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes in our household, leftovers get stuffed in the fridge

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<v Speaker 1>and then four days later everyone's like, oh, when was

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<v Speaker 1>this cooked? Can I eat this now, No I've frozen it.

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<v Speaker 2>No, yes, yeah, let it cool to an extent, but

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<v Speaker 2>then freeze it as soon as practical. And if you

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<v Speaker 2>can freeze fresh vegetables that you've brought home, you just

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<v Speaker 2>need to put them in a single layer and then

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<v Speaker 2>freeze them. You can do the same with berries and

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<v Speaker 2>things like that, but with leftovers with food, perfect to

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<v Speaker 2>be able to freeze them up into smaller portions, because

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<v Speaker 2>again we're saving food waste, and you're also making it

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<v Speaker 2>really inconvenient for the week to des Grab a nice

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<v Speaker 2>little portion of a meal out of the fridge and

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<v Speaker 2>just make sure it's effectively defrosted and then heat it

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<v Speaker 2>appropriately to make sure that it's safe to eat.

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<v Speaker 1>Any other tips or advice, I mean, we're going into Christmas,

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<v Speaker 1>many of us looking at our budgets. You know, suddenly

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<v Speaker 1>we spend more money around this time. Give us some

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<v Speaker 1>tips on how we can save money on our weekly

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<v Speaker 1>grocery bill, which we also spend more money on at Christmas,

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<v Speaker 1>oh don't we.

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<v Speaker 2>And this is where planning ahead can be really important.

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<v Speaker 2>So you could buy frozen vegetables in advance, or you

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<v Speaker 2>could even spend some time leading up to Christmas with

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<v Speaker 2>preparing fruits and vegetables, cutting them up, freezing them in

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<v Speaker 2>that way, foods can also be partially cooked and then

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<v Speaker 2>frozen too, and that also saves you a lot of

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<v Speaker 2>time on Christmas Day or for those Christmas events when

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<v Speaker 2>you you can then pull out sort of par cooked foods,

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<v Speaker 2>again making sure they're defrosted properly before they're cooked. But

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<v Speaker 2>it's not a good idea to defrost foods and then

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<v Speaker 2>refreeze them either, that's not advisable at all.

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<v Speaker 3>But of planning and saving time, that's where.

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<v Speaker 2>The freezer is a really very very helpful tool to

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<v Speaker 2>have in the kitchen.

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<v Speaker 1>Great tips, Louise, Thanks for coming on Healthy Ishn't can

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<v Speaker 1>I say Happy Christmas? I feel like we just talked

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<v Speaker 1>about it. It's not that far away. Have a great

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<v Speaker 1>Christmas period.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you very much, Felicity.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, thank you listeners for tuning in to this episode

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<v Speaker 1>with Louise and I hope it was a nice and

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<v Speaker 1>sweet reminder to use your freezer to not only save money,

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<v Speaker 1>but save you time and stress and encourage you to

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<v Speaker 1>eat healthier anyway. Thanks for tuning in. Body and soul

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<v Speaker 1>dot com that are us a place to go follow

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<v Speaker 1>US on socials. You can DM me at Felicity Harley

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<v Speaker 1>with any feedback. Grab our print edition, which is out

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<v Speaker 1>in your local Sunday paper, and until tomorrow, stay healthy

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<v Speaker 1>ish