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by TheHumanist 1205 days ago
I struggle so much with figuring out how to fit enough fruits and especially veggies into each day. Really fruit isn't an issue now that I think about it. It's nature's candy. Veggies, though I do love them, are harder to get enough of EVERY day.

As an athlete and lifter, do you think smoothies destroy a lot of the benefit of veggies? Say I want to make a smoothie each day that is packed with spinach and broccoli and carrots. I have to clearly pulverize the crap out of that to get it drinkable. I love the idea of that, because I can get a fair amount of veggies in a smoothie... But I've heard some say that doing this can destroy a lot of the nutrients from oxidation as you blend the veggies which is also pulling oxygen into the whirlpool created by blending. Not sure if that makes sense.

Aside from making a really veggie packed smoothie each day, I struggle with how to fit all the veggies into each days diet?

I do eat a good amount of oatmeal in general... Try to have some fruit and veg every day. Very little red meat. Any pointers you could offer in general are appreciated and I'm sure others here would appreciate the extra information as well!

2 comments

I personally don’t really think it’s a problem to blend them. In general, it’s still far better than not getting enough in at all.

I think the important thing to think about is that not all vegetables are created equal. The nutrient profile of spinach versus lettuce isn’t even comparable for example. Then you have fibrous veggies like broccoli that can be great for digestion. So a diversity is amazing, making your core dark leafy greens and adding ancillary vegetables on top.

One hack is that spinach wilts down super nicely. If you’re ever behind in a day, olive oil, cup or two of spinach, and some garlic and you’ll have a very enjoyable way to cram nutrients.

I find I can put quite a bit of kale in a fruit smoothie before I can even tell it's there.
When cooking at home, i tried to keep the vegetables as the primary ingredient by weight.

I am quite fond of kichdi, a dish with lentils, rice, vegetables all cooked together.

Chuck in all the vegetables, rice, bengal gram (2:1 rice to lentil) salt, spice and ghee. I just dump a ton of vegetables in the kichdi