Don’t forget your Greens !
Don’t forget your Greens !
There are also some other voices who question these ( repeated ) recommendations ” don’t forget your greens ”
Read for example skeptical articles like :
http://blog.rawgosia.com/are-greens-necessary-on-a-raw-food-diet personal reflections of Iheartfruit forum member Gosia
http://rawschool.com/2011/do-we-need-to-eat-greens/ by Nora Lenz
My own diet is very high in fruit , that is : more fruit than the average person would eat ( the average person considers fruit as a dessert and not as a complete meal ) . As for vegetables / greens : only some specific fruit-like vegetables ( like almost daily sweet bell peppers , sometimes fennel bulb … ) , cooked vegetables ( like half-cooked carrots , ( almost ) daily white potatoes and sweet potatoes , onions , seaweed {1} , black and white fungi , sometimes other fungi , sometimes some broccoli ( stems ) , sometimes some cauliflower ( stems ) , sometimes some pumpkin , sometimes some beans ( little ) … pff… really , that’s more or less all ) , and greens ( like celery(stalks) {2} … and that’s more or less the only real greens to survive my dietary references ! )
Well , the only reason is that I am not a big enthusiast of a heap of lettuce , eggplant , cucumbers , … I never feel the craving to buy them when shopping ( Salad and lettuce : I mostly like the young crispy immature leaves ) . {3}
But hey , that’s how I managed and manage to thrive on my own self-tailored ovo-vegetarian – almost vegan – almost raw diet , without any serious weight loss , without any loss of energy , and without any health issues . A diet without any animal milk products at all , without any vegetal pseudo-milks , without soya products ( only some fermented soya ) , without refined processed cereals / grains , almost never some specific (pseudo) grains , no white sugar , … ( I probably forget to list some no-no’s … ) My diet is still flexible for changes and possible improvements , although the big lines have remained more or less unchanged since 2009-2010 ( as I noticed myself )
Everybody somehow tailors his / her diet , for example Tracy Russell says about her diet :
” I eat a high-raw, vegan diet based on fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and supplemented with healthy cooked, whole foods. I’ve found this to be a sustainable diet and one that just about anybody can aspire to .”
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/ ( homepage , about author )
I ran across a beautiful commentary, among the 264 commentaries on an article ” The scary truth about vegan diets ” :
( were people got sometimes very emotionally entangled in conflicting diet discussions )
“ Can’t we just accept the fact that everybody has a slightly different physiological makeup , nutritional requirements and energy output and there is no one-size-fit all diet ? If going vegan works for you , great , I am happy for you , but it doesn’t mean it works for the rest of the world (…) We would all be much healthier if we spend more time to appreciate and be thankful of the wonderful things in life instead of bickering about what is the healthiest diet ”
{1} http://www.rawfoodyhealthnut.blogspot.com/2012/09/eat-sea-weed-many-health-implications.html ( by Helen Kirby Roach )
{2} http://fresh-network.typepad.com/fresh_network_blog/2012/09/celery-from-hate-to-love.html ( by Helen Kirby Roach )
{3} http://fresh-network.typepad.com/fresh_network_blog/2012/09/5-tips-for-getting-your-kids-to-eat-their-leafy-greens.html
( by Karen Ranzi )
http://eco18.com/powerhouse-greens/ ( by Sue Taggart )
http://eco18.com/eat-your-fruits-veggies-for-immunity-boosting-antioxidants/ ( by Lauren Verini )
Some personal reflections that I wrote on the Iheartfruit Forum on September 23 , 2012
Douglas GRAHAM and Frederic PATENAUDE on greens
I have looked it up what Douglas GRAHAM and Frederic PATENAUDE are saying about the fruit-greens issue, exactly in their own words : ( all the bold letter emphasis in the quoted texts are added by me )
http://foodnsport.com/blog/articles/fruits-fruits-more-fruits-and-fruitarianism.php
” I do not, nor have I ever, recommended a diet exclusively made up of fruit. This is because everyone I have ever met who attempts to sustain him or herself exclusively on fruit for an extended time runs into serious health challenges. Those who attempt to live on just one fruit, such as watermelon, oranges, or tomatoes, run into similar health challenges, but more rapidly than those who vary their fruits. I have seen people irrevocably lose their health in this fashion, and I have seen people die by clinging to this premise of eating only fruit. (…)
Fruits come closer to meeting our nutritional needs, on every level, than any other group of foods. you try to eat only fruit for months or years at a stretch, you run the risk of gradually running low on certain vital nutrients, primarily minerals [/b]. This is particularly true for active people and those who live in warm climates.
These minerals are best provided via the consumption of tender green leafy vegetables. I recommend that people consume about 1 to 3% of their total calories in the form on greens. For most men, that equates to almost a pound of greens per day, on average, less for an average woman.
Often, a person will embark upon an all-fruit program and feel quite well. Their mistake is making a long-term decision based upon a short-term experiment. We would expect anyone who reduces the fat content of their diet by eating more fruit to feel better initially. High carbohydrates and low fat in the diet suits us extremely well. However, undermineralization takes a subsequent toll on their health. When health problems finally do hit overzealous frutarians, they often respond to the problem by eating more fruit. (…)Consuming young tender greens does not have to be a daily part of one’s lifestyle. When plain lettuce or celery sounds and tastes appealing, you can be sure that you are ready for some greens. Many people find that after eating fruit for a few days or weeks that greens are really a welcome treat. (…)
A varied diet of fruits, vegetables, and a moderate amount of nuts and seeds tends to result in the best of health and nutrition. Whole, fresh, ripe, raw, organic plants are the most healthful for us. While simplicity at mealtime usually provides the conditions required for ideal digestion, variety in the diet over time yields optimum nutrition. (… )
In closing, I would strongly recommend against the 100% fruitarian experiment . I do believe that eating the fruit of the season is a good program. In mango season, for example, mangos predominate heavily in my diet. In persimmon season, I will make many a meal of just persimmon. Some days I eat fruit only, for sure. Overall, however, I eat about a pound of greens per day, and recommend that young tender greens, or shoots, comprise about 2% of your total caloric intake. “
I have also an example of FREDERIC PATENAUDE on the fruit-greens issue :
http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/assimilable_greens.html
” Fruits do not contain enough calcium and other alkaline minerals to maintain proper health over the long term. Most commercially available fruits are very low in calcium. For example, the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of bananas is 0.3 to 1, meaning that for 100 grams of phosphorus in bananas, there are only 30 grams of calcium. Even when we read, for example, that oranges or figs contain lots of calcium — we have to understand something. Usually, the high-mineral concentration is found in other parts of the fruit. For example, most of the calcium in figs is found in the tiny seeds that are not digested, even if they are eaten. The calcium in oranges is mostly found in the white pith, that is also usually not eaten, and when it is, it is likely not digested.
WE NEED GREENS
To provide enough minerals in the diet, we need a sufficient quantity of green vegetables. We need also a good variety of green vegetables — just celery and romaine lettuce might not be enough to provide to most people’s mineral needs. (For example, a huge head of romaine lettuce — one of the better lettuce — contains only about 200 mg of calcium. And we are talking a huge head that weighs more than a pound!)
More importantly, we need to eat greens in such a way that the nutrients can be easily assimilated by the body. Salads are great, but often the tough fiber of greens is not chewed or broken down well enough in order for the nutrients to be well assimilated. This is in addition to the fact that most people’s digestion is not as optimal as it could be.
SO , THE CHALLENGES WE FACE ARE THAT :
– Most people do not chew greens well enough, even when they think they do.
– Eating a lot of salads all the time leaves little room for fruit. When that happens, you fall short on your caloric (energy) requirements, so you start adding more fat, nuts, and seeds to the diet — which eventually leads to a failure.
– Most people do not eat a great variety of greens, and do not eat the most important greens (those that contain the most minerals).
– Even organic lettuce is not as rich in minerals as we’d like to think.
– Many people tend to avoid some of the best greens because those are often too tough and fibrous to enjoy raw. (Such as kale, broccoli, mustard greens, collards, etc.)So we need to include green vegetables often in our diets in a form that is easily assimilable by the body — when the nutrients can be extracted from the tough fiber of vegetables. We also need to include the richer greens, those that contain the most calcium, more often in our diet.
SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION ?
1- The consumption of green juices: Vegetable (or green) juices are a great idea, as they require basically no digestion at all. (…)
2- The regular consumption of green smoothies as a way to increase the consumption of greens — As mentioned in the last e-zine in Victoria Boutenko’s fine article, a better way to increase your fruit AND green consumption is to start making green smoothies. (…)
3- The use of blended salads or “raw soups” as an enjoyable way to eat vegetables — People call them blended salads, I prefer to call them raw soups. When made without fat, raw soups require very little digestion and will deliver more minerals, compared to eating and chewing the same amount of vegetables in a salad. (…)
4- The use of steamed vegetables & steamed vegetable soups as an option in a high-raw (but not 100% raw) diet. That’s not a raw option, but can be very useful nonetheless, in my opinion. If cooked foods are eaten, why not go for the nutrient-dense green vegetables? By steaming vegetables you break down their tough fiber and make them easier to chew and often, to digest. The greens of choice would be all of those that are hard to eat raw: collards, kale, broccoli stems, etc. (… ) “
On this fruit-greens issue , as I understand it , have more or less the same dietary recommendations : Douglas Graham , Frederic Patenaude , Swayze Foster , Andrew Perlot , Michael Arnstein , David Klein , Victoria Boutenko , Tracy Russell { 1 } , Tonya Zavasta { 2 } … and other rawfood promoters as well ( with each their own emphasis on some details of the diet they are promoting )
{ 1 } Tracy Russell :
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/green-smoothies/green-smoothie-health-goals/
http://www.incrediblesmoothies.com/raw-food-diet/faq/are-fruitarian-diets-really-healthy/ ( she has written here an article on the 80-10-10 diet )
{ 2 } Tonya Zavasta :
http://www.beautifulonraw.com/raw-food-blog/glowing-complexion/greens-for-health-and-beauty/
Wrote this on the Iheartfruit Forum September 23 , 2012
