Vegetables

  • I was wondering how many vegetables are too many. I eat about 4 cups a day now but want to start having green smoothies but wondering if that would be too many. I know too much of anything is not good.

    Would like some advice.

    Thanks
  • HI CATMAN ~ gee, you come up some really amazing and unique questions! I really don't know if you can eat too many veggies unless you are limiting Vitamin K which thickens your blood (vitamin K comes in green veggies). Now, I don't want you to worry about that unless you are on blood-thinning medication, which I have never heard you mention before ... (Edit2Add: but if you are, you need to talk to your doctor about that.)

    Since you are trying to cut back on meat and have grain sensitivities, I understand why you eat lots of veggies, but I eat as many as I can to fill up and to get in more nutrients too. Maybe not quite as much as you, but lots. I have actually heard a few people here say they eat tons of veggies each day (RockinRobin comes to mind).

    You know, a few plans allow "unlimited" veggies; can't recall which ones at present -- but I have heard this. I suppose you could google -- Can you eat too many veggies?

    You may start to turn green if you have green smoothies and eat 4 cups of veggies a day too -- nah, just kiddin' ...
  • Wow I eat tons of green veggies never knew about vitamin k thickening the blood may have to look into having more colors. Thanks
  • Quote: I was wondering how many vegetables are too many. I eat about 4 cups a day now but want to start having green smoothies but wondering if that would be too many. I know too much of anything is not good.

    Would like some advice.

    Thanks
    When I was doing the Deal A Meal diet I was eating up to 6 cups of nonstarchy veggies and felt fine. I think you'll be fine with a green smoothie along with your 4 cups of veggies.
  • Quote: Wow I eat tons of green veggies never knew about vitamin k thickening the blood may have to look into having more colors. Thanks
    Unless you're on blood thinning medications like Coumadin this isn't a problem (it's even a good thing if you're very healthy, you're not likely to bleed to death if your blood is a bit thicker, but if you have a heart or other circulatory problem then it's a problem).

    Even if you are on blood thinners it's often not a problem, as long as you're consistently eating a given amount (no more or less than your normal), because your doctor (usually a cardiologist) will adjust the medication dosage to deal with the amount of vitamin K you're getting... but then you have to always eat the same amount. If you want to increase or decrease the amount of green veggies you eat, then you have to do it under your doctor's supervision.

    I've known a couple folks on Coumadin to get their dose adjusted in Spring and late fall (because they eat more greens in the Spring and Summer months).

    If you aren't on blood thinners, getting too many greens usually isn't a problem.


    That being said, when it comes to fruits and veggies, the more colors you eat, the better.

    It's unlikely that you can eat "too many" veggies (as long as you're eating the nonstarchy ones, or too many of the high fat ones like avocado or the high starchy ones like corn, peas, and potatoes, and being a bit careful with the sweet ones like beets and carrots).

    Some research has even found that for folks trying to lose weight, the more freggies (fresh fruits and veggies) dieters ate, the more weight they lost (this has led to some people concluding that these fruits and veggies actually can be considered to contain "negative" calories, causing people to burn more calories than the food contains - this is a misinterpretation of the evidence. It's more likely that the fruits and veggies replaced higher calorie foods in the person's diet).