A Very Basic Pursuit

Surely we all agree that acquiring the nutrients available in vegetables is a basic pursuit of healthy living.

Why is this so hard?

Probably because buying and prepping vegetables is a pain.

At least it seems that way.

Our job here is to present ways that make basic pursuits easier

Make It Easy and Simple

Make yourself familiar with the benefits of canned vegetables and develop the habit of using those that work for you.

All you need is a can opener and a heat source and you’re good to go.

In many ways canned veggies are more nutritious than fresh ones.

And you’re getting a good deal. They are cheaper than fresh with none of the preparation stress.

The Canning Process

In general vegetables are picked, cleaned of grit and other extraneous materials, cooked at high temperature and sealed in a can all in the same day. It’s nutrients are locked in and preserved at their peak.

The Fresh Process

Produce is picked and cleaned, mostly. Farm produce often comes with grit that the consumer may have to clean.

It’s packed in crates and loaded on trucks where it can spend several days.

Then it’s probably warehoused.

Then loaded on another truck for delivery to the grocery store where it can spend another day in the store’s cooler.

Then it’s unpacked and displayed in the produce section.

This process can take a week or more during which some vitamins C and B are lost.

You buy the produce. You take it home and wash it again, maybe. Then it might requires some chopping or other prep, like discarding bad leaves. Then it’s cooked.

And you are now at the point that you would be when you just opened the can.

And the canned veggies are ounce for ounce cheaper that what you get in the produce section.

Canned Can Be a Great Way to Eat Nutritionally

The point of this is not to prove that canned vegetables are better than fresh. It’s to prove that canned vegetables are a great way to get great nutrition on your table easily.

There’s more.

Canned vegetables offer up nutrients in quantities that are not normally available in fresh.

The canning process of high temperatures >240 degrees and high pressure break down tough cell walls and unlocks a vault of nutrition in great abundance not accessible in ordinary cooking.

• Lycopene from canned tomatoes prized for heart and prostate health
• Beta-carotene & Lutein: Found in carrots, pumpkin, spinach, and corn, available in greater amounts and with higher absorption from cans
• Ferulic Acid found in canned corn is a powerful anti-oxident which neutralizes free radicals which contribute to cellular damage and aging
• Anthocyanins found in black and kidney beans reduce inflammation and protect against heart disease.

Real Food Superior to Supplements

You might say you can get these at a health food store in a pill. But a dry pill of beta-carotene hitting an empty stomach often passes right through you. A canned vegetable provides the actual physical structure (and fiber) your digestive tract needs to slow down and absorb the goods.

Pro tips

Canned foods almost always come with salt added. It that is an issue with you, wash it off through a strainer.

When possible, eat the liquid that comes with canned beans. It’s loaded with nutrition.