I've Been Eating Way More Veggies And Feeling Much Better

barefooter

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
218
Anyone else feeling better after eating more veggies? I think Peat is an absolute genius, but turning his ideas into an applicable diet can be troublesome for some. I had lots of problems with dairy, juice, and other recommendations, and I've had to experiment a lot to find a diet that works for me.

I've added back in a lot of cooked veggies, and it really seems to be helping. I'm beginning to remember how much I love broccoli (and many other veggies), and I've been eating it pretty much every single day now, often topped with ghee, parmesan cheese, and salt. My gut feels so much better, and it also seems like my caffeine tolerance has increased, which I have read is a studied effect of cruciferous veggies (Effects of dietary broccoli on human in vivo caffeine metabolism: a pilot study on a group of Jordanian volunteers. - PubMed - NCBI).


My current diet looks like:
cooked veggies (mosty broccoli, kale, zucchini, spinach)
whole fruit, not juice (currently blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, orange, and dates)
yogurt
occasional meat (fatty beef cuts or super lean chicken breast)
occasional oysters, liver, kidney, and heart
ghee and coconut oil
corn tortillas made with masa harina
buckwheat pancakes (recent experiment, high in magnesium)
occasional potato or sweet potato
green olives
dark chocolate

I think with Peat stuff it's really easy to get lost in the minutia, and struggle to find a system that works for your individual body/context. Which makes sense, because he's foremost a scientist who is concerned with digging into the tiny details, and is focused on that rather than coming up with sensible and healthy patterns for living. For instance, debating the minor amounts of PUFA in veggies or even berry seeds is silly, if you're having digestion issues on a super high fruit intake.
 

Ulysses

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Messages
340
I got really caught up in trying to avoid fiber and the result was I drank a ton of liquids, mainly as orange juice. I've felt much better since I just accepted the fiber intake and started eating whole foods instead.
 

Travis

Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2016
Messages
3,189
I used to eat steamed spinach with grated raw goat cheddar on top, which I had really like. Shredded coconut is good too, with salt, and the heat actually causes the coconut oils to liquefy and 'melt-out' so to speak.
 
OP
B

barefooter

Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
218
I used to eat steamed spinach with grated raw goat cheddar on top, which I had really like. Shredded coconut is good too, with salt, and the heat actually causes the coconut oils to liquefy and 'melt-out' so to speak.

Thanks for chiming in Travis, some of your posts actually got me thinking more about eating veggies and whole fruit (not juice), so I appreciate you opening my eyes. Since you mentioned coconut, I'll say a question that was on my mind. Is there anything negative about eating the flesh/meat of coconut? I've read about it's potential to cause GI issues (diarrhea, etc.), and read that it's best to just drink the coconut water and the oil. I think you're big on eating the whole coconut, judging from your posts. I ate a whole young coconut (meat and water) one day, and it wrecked my digestion. Is it possible it was just way too much fiber, or is there something else in coconut meat that would warrant modest consumption?
 

paymanz

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
2,707
If i eat too much spinach it irritates my mouth , but other than that i get good effects from veggies.

I wondering if its vitamin k in them that does that good effect , or antioxidants? Catalase?


And ray sometimes mentioned them positively.
 

Wagner83

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
3,295
Buckwheat and broccoli aside it's actually very "Peaty", but how do you manage to eat calories?
 

Wagner83

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2016
Messages
3,295
It's a grain, it has starch, a lot of fibers, it tastes like sweaty rubbery armpits, has high fiber and travis would probably say it's rich in omega 6.
 
Joined
Apr 17, 2017
Messages
106
For me veggies are a key food for health (while you're not intolerant to them). One of the main benefits is they produce butyrate in the gut, one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory and protective fatty acids.
 
D

Deleted member 5487

Guest
Blended greens in smoothies, blunts the insulin spikes from fruits/juice alongside it. Also seems to add alot of additional magnesium, potassium, micros, mabey even sufficent protein. Makes me feel good.

I am going to attempt Blended greens, mango, berries, OJ smoothies for a couple days.
 

Mossy

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
2,043
Blended greens in smoothies, blunts the insulin spikes from fruits/juice alongside it. Also seems to add alot of additional magnesium, potassium, micros, mabey even sufficent protein. Makes me feel good.

I am going to attempt Blended greens, mango, berries, OJ smoothies for a couple days.
Before I knew Ray from Peat, when I had first sunken into my health state, juiced greens were one of the few things that gave me a bit of vitality back. I think there is something to them being very available to the body—as you say, the minerals and nutrients.
 

tara

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
For me, yes to:
cooked veggies (I too eat broccoli, kale, zucchini, spinach, and others too - my gut apparently really likes broccoli)
whole fruit
meat (mostly beef and lamb, some fish, organ meats, occasional chicken,
coconut oil, occasional little olive oil
occasional buckwheat pancakes
regular potato
sweet potato in season
green olives

Also some raw veges - leaves, cucumbers, tomatoes, sometimes others

I think I used to eat veges out of duty, often reluctantly, thinking they were good for me, and the more the better.
Now I eat them only when I crave them or will enjoy them - which is often.
 

Runenight201

Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
1,942
Vegetables are such a rich source of many nutrients, I’m not surprised you feel better eating them.

I think the majority of people dislike vegetables because they aren’t preparing and combining them properly. Maybe that’s why humans have become so much more intelligent than every other species, because we learned how to reap the benefits of foods and negate cons through food combinations, allowing us to consume more energy and nutrients from an increasingly diverse set, which supported new and innovative structures, functions, behaviors, and thoughts.
 

Peatogenic

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2017
Messages
746
Eating some vegetables feels key for me as well. Asparagus, cauliflower, sometimes collards. Eating a salad makes me feel very lethargic, though.
 

southcesar

Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2020
Messages
171
After seeing Ray Peat recommend broccoli as a source of vitamin K in a quote, I started incorporating it into my diet. It hasn't caused any irritation, and I don't compromise calorie intake to include broccoli on my plate.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom