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Season is no excuse to skimp on Produce

Newswise — The produce section may be a bit bare this time of year, but that doesn’t give anyone a free pass to skimp on fruits and vegetables.

Dr. Jo Ann Carson, professor of clinical nutrition at UT Southwestern Medical Center, said the solution lies in choosing as much fresh seasonal produce as possible, then augmenting it with a mixture of frozen and canned offerings.

Frozen fruit and vegetables often contain nearly as many nutrients as fresh produce because it has been picked, frozen and packaged at the peak of its season, she said.

Dr. Carson also said that some canned vegetables, including pumpkin, provide more vitamins per serving than their fresh counterparts.

The key, she said, is to watch the sugar and sodium content as canned produce can be higher in both.

“A good principle is to look for fruit without added sugar or syrups and vegetables without extra butter, salt or cream sauces,” Dr. Carson said.