I started enjoying about a quart of green smoothie everyday and I jam pack it with as much spinach as I can. I do also alternate with kale.
But I am just wondering if it's possible to put "too much" greens into a smoothie?

How much greens do you put in your smoothies? How many cups?

Thanks.

I try to shoot for a half pound, trimmed, to about 1 pound fruit. I don't use the same green for more than a couple of days running; I have found in the past that consuming large amounts of cruciferus greens, like kale and cabbage, hampered my thyroid. So I rotate rougher greens with lettuces.

greens like chard and spinach can contain high amounts of oxalic acid which binds calcium and therefore inhibits calcium absorption, so rotate your greens as stated.

I add about 1 cup cruciferous vegetables (much more potent cancer fighters than other greens but also much more stronger tasting, hence the trade off) to other greens and limited fruit. Usually 1/4 cruciferous (kale, collard green, watercress, other), 1/2 non-cruciferous greens milder tasting cucumber, romaine lettuce, celery, and 1/4 everything else fruit, chia seeds, maca root, dulse. Fruit is usually wild blueberries which are low glycemic index and high in nutrients.

Paul

007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> greens like chard and spinach can contain high
> amounts of oxalic acid which binds calcium and
> therefore inhibits calcium absorption, so rotate
> your greens as stated.

I recall reading Norman Walker say that this is only occuring when such greens are COOKED. Just like any cooked green renders the minerals inorganic, apparently the same occurs with oxalic acid. And it makes sense, if you think about it: why would these foods be bad for you? They are incredibly nutricious. I am not even close to high raw and I started using Swiss chard in salads (along with raw acv as part of a dressing) and the last time I got my eyes checked (I have worn glasses for near-sightedness for over 30 years), I had to get a weaker prescription And it wasn't because I am getting far-sighted, either! I attribute my improvement to the astonishing amount of vitamin A that Swiss chard contains (this was a surprise, due to its green color).

banana who Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I recall reading Norman Walker say that this is
> only occuring when such greens are COOKED. Just
> like any cooked green renders the minerals
> inorganic, apparently the same occurs with oxalic
> acid. And it makes sense, if you think about it:
> why would these foods be bad for you?



They would hurt you because the plant has developed protective measures to defend itself. When you eat greens you are consuming the plant itself and killing it. When you eat fruit you leave the plant basically unharmed and help to scatter seeds in some cases.

Definitely, for me there's such a thing as too much greens.

Too much greens of any kind makes me sleepy and zaps my energy, plus gives me dry, itchy skin, and stomach aches. I definitely can't eat greens everyday. I love the taste though, and crave them when I don't eat enough.

Happy to say I can eat as much fruit as I like.

I have read somewhere (on Yahoo, a couple of days ago, I think) that greens are now in the group of "dangerous" food, along with eggs, tuna and other potentially "risky" foods, and that there is a law already pending to have some measures similar to almonds implemented, so that consumers are "protected". I will search and try to find the article and post the link. I know the text mentions tomatoes and "green leaf" vegetable.

I am seriously planning to become totally independent from the official "food supply", I hope to be able to do that ASAP. I know most of you are using organic or home grown food only, I will have to complete the transition also, as just eating raw is not enough.

Thanks for your words on greens, it may help me - I think I know what I need now, so that I can balance fruit and greens.

@Rab: That is terrible! It seems they are already screwing with tomatoes; it seems difficult to get decent tomatoes these days. And I bought some cukes recently with a strange ring near the skin that made me wonder if it had been radiated. Sprouting is a great way to ensure proper nutrtition, in additon you your idea of homegrown. But start a food bank! Monsatan is on the warpath.

Oh jeze,
Greens "dangerous"
Fresh home grown organic veggies in my back yard.
Here I come.
I agree rab.
Lets get off the "food grid" out there.

Vinny

LOL- I meant SEED BANK!

greens are considered a "dangerous" food now?

HA HA

what else am i supposed to do but laugh

?

hmmmmm.....?

It probably is possible to overdo the goosefoots (spinach, beet greens, chard) and the crucifers, which is why it's best to do a little bit of each every day rather than 1/2 kg of one single thing.

Also I concentrate on lettuces which are milder, supplemented with smaller amounts of the others: 8-10 cups of romaine and a cup or two of spinach and broccoli or
turnip greens is typical, sometime with a cup of alfalfa sprouts. I love the texture.

Or just doing something different every day. But I once overdid it with a ton of raw spinach and will never make that mistake again. Intense GI distress for the better part of a day!

arugula!!!

arugula!!!

It is not possible to have too much of that




Dangerous greens is not a new theme, remember the spinach thing a few years ago? Alfalfa sprouts before that too.

So greens are dangerous? How are we going to stop all the wild animals from eating them to protect them?

As for me the more the greens and sprouts the better.

oops. the e. coli outbreak has been reported already in another topic.

I'm not going to stop eating romaine. I love the stuff.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2010 02:59AM by arugula.

yikes... dangerous greens...is there nothing sacred anymore... but seriously... this oxalic acid it's in spinach chard and beet greens??? I suppose i knew about it in spinach... but thought I was safe in the others... these are the only greens other then lettuce that I can tolerate... and now maybe it's blocking my calcium??? which could be part of my leg cramps and acidosis ... can someone please explain how this works...

love laugh and dream

If "they" tell you it's dangerous, it means we should probably be consuming as much as possible. I notice that all of a sudden there was this "outbreak" of "contaminated" spinach when it became popular to consume raw spinach in salads (its most nutricious state). Just like "they" pasteurized almonds, which I learned were the only alkaline nut! I remember reading Edgar Cayce's health readings and he said that if a person consumed about 15 raw almonds a day, it would be very beneficial for the body.

la_veronique Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> greens are considered a "dangerous" food now?
>
> HA HA
>
> what else am i supposed to do but laugh
>
> ?
>
> hmmmmm.....?

Cry ...

Banana - how do you make raw swiss chard taste good? Or do you eat only the very young swiss chard & mix it with a bunch of other stuff that does taste good?

I planted a bunch of chard and it's coming up now and I really don't want to have to cook it to make it palatable.

I think too much of anything out of balance can be unhealthy but surely your mouth or your stomach would tell you so? I remember eating a huge sack of cherries one time, Ooh they were so tasty good! Shortly thereafter I got a definate message from my tummy though. Hard to ignore what it was saying too me ~"TOO MANY CHERRIES AT ONCE!" Never again, moderation is the key in all things.

Perhaps a move will be made to just irradiate the entire planet to protect us from these evil plant stuffs that are threatening our well being. I mean, instead of cleaning up all the sh!t we could just zap it, right? MUCH easier than taking a look at where it comes from and dealing with it at it's source. The lazy way has gotten us so far, why change now.
Sheesh.