Frozen Fruit

I am a big fan of frozen bananas and they are a core ingredient in my smoothies.

But is it good for us?

Freezing does cause some damage to fruits and vegetables, as the cell walls break down resulting in oxidation which causes some damage to the nutritional value of fruit.

The higher the water content of the item being frozen, the more damage is likely to occur.

All fruits have a very high water content (except dried fruits of course) and are therefore best eaten as they are, not frozen.

Therefore, consuming frozen fruit shouldn't comprise too large a portion of your diet.

However, on the plus side, freezing does not introduce any toxins to the produce being frozen.

Freezing is therefore one of the least damaging things you can do to food - FAR less damaging than COOKING it!

I always freeze bananas as I find it is also a good way to preserve them once I am faced with too many that are ripe at once.

I also really LOVE the texture of frozen bananas in smoothies.

If you put freshly squeezed fruit juices into ice lolly trays in the freezer, they make a great treat for children (or anyone).

There is one more concern about consuming frozen foods and that is that eating ice cold foods can damage the bacterial colonies that live in your gut.

According to Dr Douglas Graham in his book, The 80/10/10 Diet these bacterial colonies are the ones that produce Vitamin B12 and therefore freezing foods may negatively impact their ability to produce B12.

So, if you are regularly consuming very cold foods, be sure to take a B12 supplement occasionally (no need to panic though, it can take many, many years to deplete your B12 supplies).