Does Fresh Food Necessarily Provide The Best Source of Nutrients - Essay Example

Does Fresh Food Necessarily Provide The Best Source of Nutrients? Introduction Nutrition is essential for one and all. Research has shown that optimal nutrition is critical for both physical and mental performance. Optimal nutrition means that which is neither excess nor deficient. Optimal nutrition has an important role in the performance of sportsmen. Nutrition is also important during practice and training sessions so that overtraining does not occur. The type of nutrition essential for each sport is different depending on the level of physical activity involved. In high range sports like ice hockey, both training and performance are of high intensity and nutrition plays a major role both for performance and recovery. A sportsman gets nutrition mainly through food. Food can be either fresh or processed. Food that is not over boiled or over steamed is known as fresh food. There is lot of debate amongst experts as to which type is ideal for nutrition. The debate arises because while it is a common knowledge fact that fresh food has more nutrients, some researchers are of the opinion that even canned and frozen foods have nutrient value similar to fresh foods, with an added advantage of easy availability. In this essay, this debate will be discussed with reference to sports nutrition. Nutrition requirement for sports persons According to the Canada Food Guide (qtd. in Bullard, 1978), essential components of food for any individual are proteins, fat and carbohydrates. While carbohydrate and fats are good sources of energy, proteins provide amino acids essential for growth and repair of the cells and cell structures of the body. Minerals and vitamins are essential for various activities in the body. Fiber is essential for proper functioning of the intestines. Other than provision of energy, fats also contain fat soluble vitamins (Bredbenner et al, 2008). These must be blended in such a way that they contain sufficient essential minerals and vitamins. There are four basic foods which make this possible. They are 2- 4 servings of milk or milk products like whole or 2% skim milk, butter milk, reconstituted evaporated or dry milk and cheese, 3- 5 servings of bread and cereals, 2 servings of meat and alternates like poultry, liver, fish, lean meat, cooked dried peas, nuts, beans or lentils, cheddar, cottage cheese, processed cheese and eggs, and 4- 5 servings of fruit and vegetables. This food can supply about 1000 to 1400 calories per day. Additional calories can be supplied by increasing the number or size of servings. Each individual has different needs of calories and nutrients based on the age, sex, size of body, daily activities and growth (Bredbenner et al, 2008). For athletes, extra nutrition is essential not only to maintain body weight, but also to allow for exercise, training and competition. Thus as long as the food one eats meets these requirements, it should not be an issue whether the food is fresh or canned or frozen. Fresh food vrs canned/frozen food Research has shown that fresh food is is largely unchanged and the fiber content is intact (Davies and Barret, 2010). Canned food has higher amounts of salt and sugar added and has additives added which may be harmful. Even frozen food needs some emulsifiers and binders to keep the food intact (Davies and Barret, 2010). While this is one side of the argument, it is not necessary that fresh food has all the nutrients intact. This is because, the fresh vegetables and fruits are often transported long distances and a change in their nutritional value may occur once exposed to air and sunlight. Besides nutritional depreciation, the taste and texture of the foods may change to worse. On the other hand, canned or frozen food is packed soon after harvesting, the time when nutrition values are at peak. According to the Food and Drug Administration of the US and International Food Information Council (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010), the nutrient levels of fruits and vegetables are not lost during freezing and canning and that they have similar nutritional profiles when compared to fresh foods. A simple example of preservation of nutrition is evident from tomatoes. Lycopene is tomatoes is the same whether in canned tomato sauce or frozen pizza sauce or fresh tomatoes (Davies and Barret, 2010). According to the department of Agriculture Food safety and Inspection Service (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010), there is little change in the nutrient value of poultry products and meat when frozen. Another study conducted by the University of Illinois Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010) reported that fiber content in canned food is as high as in their fresh counterparts. Important nutrients like vitamins A and C, folate, thiamine, potassium and carotenoids are preserved during canning. For vegetables like pumpkin, which is rich in vitamin A, the levels of this vitamin is much higher in the canned product than in the fish product. It has also been shown that the nutrient value of lycopene is much higher when consumed either canned or heated. (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010) Meats and other proteins which are convenient to store and use in the frozen or canned form are unaltered in the process of canning or freezing as far as nutrient value is concerned. In fish, in particular, the calcium levels are higher after canning (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010). One of the major benefits of canned or frozen foods is that they are significantly priced lower than the fresh foods. Another benefit is that it foods can be eaten even during out-of-season days (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010). Thus, despite the fact that many nutritionists and dieticians uphold the nutritional value of fresh food, there is no strong argument which supports this argument. People who have difficulty in consuming fresh food must be advised to consume canned and frozen foods and divert them from eating junk foods and snacks (Cited in Davies and Barret, 2010). According to a study by Sanfors et al (2008), dieticians have positive perception of fresh food and are uncertain about cost to benefit, nutritional value and use of alternative products. So though there is some loss in the nutrient density in canned foods and frozen foods, the loss is minimal and can be ignored (Jeukendrup, and Gleeson, 2004, p.24). One important point that is worth considering in fresh vegetables is cross-contamination with wash water (Gil et al, 2009). Some foods have to be given fresh. Fresh orange juice increases the absorption of nonheme iron and not heme iron. Thus, drinking fresh orange juice after eating breads and cereals increases absorption of iron (Jeukendrup, and Gleeson, 2004, p.219). In most natural foods, the amount of salt is minimal. However, in processed foods, added salt is more (Jeukendrup, and Gleeson, 2004, p.223). Diets high in salt can contribute to hypertension (Sarafino, 1998). The main disadvantage of canned food is that there are high chances of taking excess food. Excess intake of food can lead to overweight and obesity which can in turn cause many other health-related problems like diabetes, arthritis, hypertension and cardiac disease (Sarafino, 1998). Conclusion The nutrient value of both fresh foods and non-fresh foods are similar and minor decrease in the nutrition value in canned and frozen foods can be neglected. Canned/fresh foods are cheap, easily available and can be eaten in non-season periods. However, the foods much be chosen with caution and added salt foods avoided. Some foods like orange juice which have nutritional value only when fresh must be consumed fresh only. References Bredbenner, C.B., Beshgetoor, D., Moe, G. (2008). Wardlaws Perspectives in Nutrition. Mcgraw Hill. Bullard, J.A. (1978). Nutrition and the Athelete. Can Fam Physician, 24, 1298- 1301. Davies, R., and Barrett, A. (2010). True or False: Fresh Food Is Better Than Frozen or Canned Food. Health library: Evidence Based Information. Retrieved on 15th April, 2010 from http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetContent.aspx?token=a4c1f00b-d245-44f2-a90e-20b047f84a6a&chunkiid=160561 Gil, M.I., Selma, M.V., López-Gálvez, F., Allende, A. (2009). Fresh-cut product sanitation and wash water disinfection: problems and solutions. Int J Food Microbio., 134(1-2), 37-45. Jeukendrup, A., and Gleeson, M. (2004). Sport Nutrition: An Introduction to Energy Production and Performance. NewZealand: Human kinetics Sanford KA, Johnston EM, Porter JL, Lowe J, Oxby DM. (2008). Dietitians attitudes, perceptions, and usage patterns for fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. Can J Diet Pract Res. Spring, 69(1), 7-13. Sarafino, E.P. (1998). Health Psychology: Biopsychological Interactions: Lifestyles to Enhance Health and Prevent Illness. London: John Wiley and Sons Read More