Research shows that frozen blueberries may have an advantage over fresh blueberries when it comes to health. This seems to suggest that fresh blueberries are healthier for you than frozen ones, and for that category, that’s true. Fresh blueberries also contain slightly more iron, potassium, and zinc than frozen blueberries. Blueberries also contain healthy amounts of vitamin C, iron, and certain trace minerals.
Frozen blueberries are good for you. Fruits, in general, are healthy food options for most people, and the only people who may need to be wary around them are those with blood sugar issues. Frozen blueberries have almost the same nutritional value as fresh ones do, but it declines over time.
Blueberries are a “superfood” rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Blueberries contain anthocyanins, which are heart-healthy antioxidants that may help prevent other diseases. A study published in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology found that both fresh and frozen blueberries are rich in anthocyanins, the flavonoid pigments that give fresh blueberries their powerful antioxidant properties.
Frozen Blueberries May Be Better than Fresh Counterparts
A new study from South Dakota State University suggests that frozen blueberries provide a higher dose of disease-fighting antioxidants than fresh blueberries. According to Marine Plumb, a South Dakota State University alumnus, blueberries contain powerful antioxidants, both fresh and thawed. Blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity of any popular fruit and vegetable. In addition, blueberries are second only to strawberries in terms of fruits that Americans prefer.
Blueberries are delicious fresh, frozen, or dried, as they were so beloved by early Americans. You don’t need complicated research to see that they may be more popular than frozen strawberries. Because blueberries are frozen immediately after picking, “they are the same quality as fresh blueberries,” explains Plumb. If the blueberries turn into frozen chunks, you can always break down what you need and store the rest in the refrigerator.
You won’t harm its freshness, taste, or nutrients by breaking it up in the freezer. We recommend freezing blueberries to keep them fresh and nutritious. You want your blueberries to be stored properly so they don’t burn in the freezer and stay fresh for a long time. Blueberries can be stored frozen for a long time, and when you’re ready to use them, they’ll still be delicious and nutritious.
Wash Berries Before Freezing Them
If you want, you can wash the blueberries before putting them in the refrigerator. Freezing fresh blueberries won’t keep them forever, after a while they will lose their flavor and become less delicious. However, the key to freezing fresh blueberries and strawberries is that they must be dry when frozen, and they must be placed in an appropriate freezer bag or container.
Your blueberries can be laid out on a shelf or placed in the freezer in a stack of other frozen food bags. The good news is that frozen blueberries are available all year round and can be used in place of fresh blueberries in everything from smoothies and muffins to fruit salads and cakes. While sweetened frozen blueberries still provide the fiber, vitamins, and minerals from fresh, they contain 45 more calories per serving than unsweetened frozen blueberries.
Some Nutritional Information On Blueberries
One cup of fresh blueberries contains 0.5 mg, while one cup of frozen blueberries contains 0.2 mg. A half-cup serving of blueberries has only 42 calories, and blueberries have the highest vitamin A content of all berries and the second highest energy value. These vitamins and nutrients are essential for maintaining good health, and blueberries are an easy and delicious way to ensure our bodies get all of them.
The fiber, potassium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and phytonutrients content of blueberries supports heart health. The vitamin C, vitamin A, and phytonutrients found in blueberries work as powerful antioxidants to help protect cells from free radical damage caused by disease. The powerful antioxidants in blueberries lower bad cholesterol (LDL). The lack of cholesterol in blueberries is also good for the heart.
Fresh or frozen blueberries contain 4 grams of fiber per cup and are high in vitamin K. The body needs vitamin K for blood clotting and wound healing. One cup of unsweetened frozen blueberries is high in vitamin K; in fact, one cup provides one-third of the recommended vitamin K requirement. A 155-gram cup of unsweetened frozen blueberries provides more than 30% of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting.
Vitamin K plays an important role in blood clotting and bone health and is protected when fresh food is stored in the refrigerator, so you can expect frozen blueberries to be a good source of vitamin K when they are at their freshest. Just like fresh blueberries.
The Health Benefits of Store-bought Berries
A cup of frozen blueberries can help keep your digestive system working properly, preventing constipation and keeping your gastrointestinal tract healthy as they are high in fiber. You can also freeze blueberries, although this reduces the content of many nutrients, it can increase the antioxidant content.
If you prefer dried blueberries to frozen ones, be aware that you must limit servings and you cannot directly replace fresh or frozen blueberries with dried ones; if you do, the added sugar can contribute to weight gain. You can easily buy frozen wild blueberries at many supermarkets, including Trader Joes and Whole Foods.
The bad news is that we’ve never seen grocery stores sell them fresh, not even at natural food specialty stores. In any case, given the popularity of blueberries, we thought it was worth looking into rather than just relying on patterns of frozen fruit in general. However, the total protein content of fresh or frozen blueberries is negligible, especially when compared to protein-rich foods such as dairy, eggs, poultry, fish, and meat.