T Nation

Question About Spinach

Supplements and Nutrition
#1

I’ve been following Berardi’s Don’t Diet plan religiously for the past few weeks and I’ve been eating veggies fairly conscientiously. Every day I eat 4 cups of a mix of spinach, kale, turnip greens and collard greens. My stupid question is this: does it matter if I space them out at all? Generally, I have a cup of veggies per meal, but anyone who eats leafy green veggies regularly knows how obnoxious it is to have to brush your teeth after every time you eat.

So does it really matter if I just eat 3 or 4 cups of veggies in one sitting?

I’m no newbie, but if this is an amazingly dumb question, go ahead and let me have it.

#2

I eat veggies (especially spinach) with every meal in order to achieve a negative PRAL score for each meal. Basically every food that you can think of has a positive PRAL score unless it is a fruit or vegetable. I think that you should space your veggies out with each meal whenever possible to maintain a negative PRAL score (Read JB’s article about PRAL for the reasons why this is beneficial). Spinach is especially useful for this because it has a very negative PRAL score of about -14.

I also think that if you are dieting it is wise to eat veggies in every meal to bulk up your meals with fibre so that you feel full and feel like you have eaten a decent sized meal.

Toothpicks rule!

#3

Don’t know how I missed that Berardi article. Thanks for the heads up - I definitely noticed that feeling of fullness you’re referring to. Nothing sucks more than rinsing off your dishes and realizing, damn…I’m hungry already

Nice call w/ the toothpicks…

#4

Good post, TommyT!!! Couldn’t have said it better myself. I eat spinach daily for the same reason as you.