How often do you eat green veggies>? - Page 2

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by Holiztic

I am curious about all the people saying that they eat raw spinach daily (or twice daily!) Are you aware of or simply not concerned about oxalic acid? My understanding is that the oxalic acid in raw spinach leaches iron and calcium from the body. Eaten daily I would think this could be a big issue.

However, the oxalic acid in vegetables is broken down in cooking and doesn't interfere with the absorption of calcium present in other foods, cheese for instance, that you might eat at the same time.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA40034...alic-Acid.html

'Typically, foods that have high oxalic acid also have high calcium. They buffer each other.' So, even if oxalic acid is affecting calcium absorption, that's outweighed by the fact that there's so much more calcium in spinach than the average vegetable in the first place that there'll still be plenty absorbed!

http://debbietookrawforlife.blogspot...cid-thing.html

It is only when the oxalic acid has become inorganic because it was cooked or processed, that it forms an interlocking compound with the calcium that destroys the nourishing value of both. This results in a deficiency of calcium that causes decomposition of the bones.

http://www.juicing-for-health.com/oxalic-acid.html




What I've found, poking around researching this, is that every "expert" out there seems to contradict every other "expert." Some say the oxalic acid has no effect on calcium from other foods, only on the calcium in the greens. Others flat-out deny that. Some say it's better to cook greens, and others say the opposite. Some say rotate your greens. Some say just eat young leaves, and stop eating them if you experience discomfort or adverse reaction. Some say don't eat greens at all.

So who knows?

[Llyra]

Myself, I'm curious about the folks who seem to be down on corn, potatoes, and peas. What's up with that? We eat plenty of leafy greens, but we also eat plenty of the starchy veggies, and I guess I don't understand why some people seem to regard these as junk foods. Is it just because of the french fry connection? Is it a glycemic index thing? Those are good whole foods.

[nathansmum]

I include in here wild weeds from around the garden too and rate onion and garlic as a daily vege that is a must - dinner would have at least 5-6 varieties of veges depending on what arrived in our vege box that week or has come out of the garden (onion, garlic, brocolli, cauli, asparagus, spinach, carrots, pumpkin, tomatoes) . I chop spinach into almost everything (pasta sauce, bean meal, fritatta etc). We do a green smoothie maybe once a week using wild weeds from around our backyard. I usually get our daily amounts via lunch and dinner.

[seashells]

I eat locally (and thus seasonally) so my greens consumption varies seasonally and I'm happy with that. Sometimes I'm eating them twice a day, sometimes only twice a week. My favorite leafy green is swiss chard, it's so beautiful.

Originally Posted by Llyra

Myself, I'm curious about the folks who seem to be down on corn, potatoes, and peas. What's up with that? We eat plenty of leafy greens, but we also eat plenty of the starchy veggies, and I guess I don't understand why some people seem to regard these as junk foods. Is it just because of the french fry connection? Is it a glycemic index thing? Those are good whole foods.

IMO, I think that it's because people tend to rely on corn, potatoes and peas exclusively for vegetable intake. I think they are fine in their whole form but don't add much to the SAD. I mean, if you are already eating tons of starches, and telling yourself you eat plenty of veggies because you had some peas last week... well, there's the problem.

On the other hand, if you're eating potatoes as part of a very good diet, well, potatoes are quite good for you. As long as they are potatoes, of course, and not processed beyond recognition.

I am really big on vegetables (base of my diet) but I don't really eat peas. I don't think peas are bad for you but I don't think they offer much that other foods don't already offer. People consider them a "green" but they are really a starch, not a leafy green, which is another category. Starches are just very easy to come by in our culture, and the SAD diet is not really lacking in starch, so I think the point is to de-emphasize these veggies in favor of others that most people are lacking.

[Smokering]

Huh. I think I need to step up my green-veggie eating. I'm not that keen on broccoli due to a childhood caterpillar-related trauma, and since we moved ouse I don't have spinach/silverbeet growing. DH likes tabbouleh, but I've heard large quantities of parsley are bad for your milk supply (and I'm not that keen on it anyway). I do have some lettuce and basil growing in the garden, but they won't be ready to eat for a while. I have snow peas too - didn't realise peas and beans weren't considered "proper" green veggies! Oh well, I like 'em anyway.

[Sol_y_Paz]

A lot. I eat spinach pretty much daily. Broccoli several times a week. Sprouts weekly. Avocados probably 4 or 5 times a week. Bok choy weekly. I always have veggies of some sort daily, several servings.

[aris99]

Originally Posted by Smokering

Huh. I think I need to step up my green-veggie eating. I'm not that keen on broccoli due to a childhood caterpillar-related trauma, and since we moved ouse I don't have spinach/silverbeet growing. DH likes tabbouleh, but I've heard large quantities of parsley are bad for your milk supply (and I'm not that keen on it anyway). I do have some lettuce and basil growing in the garden, but they won't be ready to eat for a while. I have snow peas too - didn't realise peas and beans weren't considered "proper" green veggies! Oh well, I like 'em anyway.

I'm really just lurking here but omg you brought back dark childhood memories of being forced to eat silverbeet on an almost daily basis!!! OOf!!!....I lived in NZ (Auckland) for 4 yrs...I loved it but NOT the silverbeet :/

[nathansmum]

LOL at the NZers. I'm semi-traumatised by silverbeet - my mother used to make a silverbeet entree that was really gross lol - she even made it recently for a meal we had at her place. I do grow it in my garden and eat it, but sparingly, I prefer to grow spinach these days. When I grow silverbeet, I prefer Ruby Chard and the Rainbow Lights - just coz they look pretty!

We got our veges today via - homemade pasta sauce used on a pizza base (had tomatoes, onion, garlic, spinach, fresh herbs)with cheese slices melted on top, dinner is roast chicken with pumpkin, potato, carrot, parsnip and served with broccoli, cauli and asparagus. Kids ate fresh sugar snap peas while down in the garden mid afternoon.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by seashells

I eat locally (and thus seasonally) so my greens consumption varies seasonally and I'm happy with that. Sometimes I'm eating them twice a day, sometimes only twice a week. My favorite leafy green is swiss chard, it's so beautiful.



IMO, I think that it's because people tend to rely on corn, potatoes and peas exclusively for vegetable intake. I think they are fine in their whole form but don't add much to the SAD. I mean, if you are already eating tons of starches, and telling yourself you eat plenty of veggies because you had some peas last week... well, there's the problem.

On the other hand, if you're eating potatoes as part of a very good diet, well, potatoes are quite good for you. As long as they are potatoes, of course, and not processed beyond recognition.

I am really big on vegetables (base of my diet) but I don't really eat peas. I don't think peas are bad for you but I don't think they offer much that other foods don't already offer. People consider them a "green" but they are really a starch, not a leafy green, which is another category. Starches are just very easy to come by in our culture, and the SAD diet is not really lacking in starch, so I think the point is to de-emphasize these veggies in favor of others that most people are lacking.

FWIW, peas are a source of protein, like any legume is a source of protein, and if you eat edible-pod varieties, they are also a source of fiber and trace minerals.

And new peas right from the garden are usually the first fresh garden veg we get here, after a long winter of nothing but cold-frame kale and spinach and home-frozen stuff, so for somebody like me who grows and preserves their own, or relies on what's available from local farms, peas are an object of deep and intense CRAVING. I remember last year all through april and may salivating over the very idea of scallions and new peas... I can already hardly wait!

But I guess that makes sense, that if those are the only veggies you're eating, they don't add much to your diet. But potatoes, cooked in their skins, are an excellent source of minerals. And sweet potatoes and winter squash, also starchy veg, are full of beta carotene. So I think it's wrong to be all down on those vegetables. The idea is to ADD leafy greens, and eliminate the processed crap, not to replace whole root veggies and legumes with only leafy greens. Even corn has its place.

A diet consisting entirely of kale, for example, is no more healthy than a diet consisting entirely of yams, or entirely of eggs, or entirely of any one food.