There is great news for us medical students with sensible freezer stocking habits. Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University have found that frozen fruit and vegetables are often the same and sometimes superior nutritional value to the fresh.

The reason for this is that frozen food is often frozen almost immediately after harvest, whilst fresh fruit and vegetables are passed link-to-link, starting from producer, before they finally reach the customer up to a month after their harvest. In this period the vegetables deteriorate and gradually become depleted of their nutrients. According to research, for example, frozen peas contain a higher level of beta carotene than fresh peas. The advantage to the Government is of course that frozen veggies are cost efficient and can now be marketed as the healthier option.

I could not help but make the comparison between this article and the kingdom of God. I wonder though as a student if this can be related to me in any way. I imagine the question being asked of me: 'how would you like your faith Tosin, fresh, straight from the Lord of the harvest or frozen to savour all that freshness to be used for another day?' Whilst the frozen type is very efficient for vegetable preservation, I am not sure we are built for the same sort of standstill. For like fresh vegetables: 'Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day' (2 Corinthians 4:16).

(dailymail.co.uk 2009; 11 September, telegraph.co.uk 2009; 11 September)