Going with the recommendation of Massive Eating Reloaded and whole lot of people on this forum, I am going to sincerely try eating more veggies (and fruit), both with P+C and P+F meals.
I need some advice though. I want to increase the anti-oxidants and fiber in my diet. What are the best sources for anti-oxidants (other than supplements).
Also, do people mind sharing some cooking strategies? I can think of boiling or baking the veggies to avoid destroying any minerals and vitamins.
Berries, blueberries especially, are probably the richest source of antioxidants you can eat. Not to mention they are all reasonably low glycemic index.
To avoid destroying any nutrients, eating them raw is the best choice. There is a list of veggies that should not be eaten raw on a regular basis, however. This would include broccoli, cabbage, spinach, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower. If you did this, you’d be off to a good start.
Otherwise, get a steaming basket so you can steam your veggies. This preserves more nutrients than boiling.
DO NOT ever microwave your veggies.
And you have to make sure you wash your veggies well if you eat them raw or steamed. Boiling them helps clean them off better than these two options, so just make sure they’re clean (go organic if you can).
I buy a freezer full of frozen veggies (I prefer Birdseye, they seem to be better quality than store brands). I then use a casserole dish, put in water that covers about half the veggies, and microwave. I do a few packages then add them together in a big tupperware bowl and stick them in the fridge. Simple and handy.
Well, cooking to any extent destroys nutrients. The more you cook, the more you destroy. So if you boil your broccoli for 8 hours, you’ll end up with a colorless mush instead of bright green crisp broccoli that you get from light steaming.
There is an order of preference, but I can’t recall the exact order. It might have been microwaving destroys the most nutrients, boiling destroys less, and steaming destroys the least. I don’t know if that is the correct order, but steaming is definitely the best method of cooking. Microwaving supposedly alters the food. I’m not sure if that is from radiation or very rapid exposure to very high temperatures, or a combo of both these factors. All I know is when I reheat meat in the microwave, I’m burping it up all day.
Boiling has the problem of letting nutrients get out into the water. If you buy prewashed, you could drink the water if you really want, but with most veggies this would not be advisable because you also get dirt, pesticides, etc in this water.
Steaming is very easy, too. All you need is a cheap steaming basket, then you add some filtered water in a pot, put the basket in, toss in the veggies, and boil the water.
why limit raw broccoli, spinach and cauliflower? any negative effects of eating too much of any of these?
as for antioxidants - blueberries (as mentioned before).
adding more veggies into your diet is a matter of how much you dislike the taste of veggies. since most dressings are loaded with saturated fats and other nasty ingredients, you may want to stick with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (or other oils and vinegars) when eating salads. if you’re cooking, try being somewhat innovative and adding lots of veggies to stir fry, chili, etc. there’s no need to cook for veggies for a long time either - add them near last if you can. and keep a bin of celery sticks, broccoli, etc. in your fridge. you’ll be more prone to add them into your diet than if you had to go through the process of washing, cutting, and cooking them over and over again.
why limit raw broccoli, spinach and cauliflower? any negative effects of eating too much of any of these?
Vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, rutabega, and watercress contain goitrogens (thiocyanate) that can disrupt thyroid function by blocking idodine use. A little bit is ok, but excessive consuption of these raw veggies is not good. It could possibly ruin your attempts to get lean!
The good news is that cooking gets rid of this problem.
Spinach contains oxalic acid, which inhibits the absorption of calcium. Again, cooking gets rid of this problem. I’ve heard of people with kidney stones having trouble with eating a good amount of raw spinach.
Some people say raw veggies are best, some say all steamed is best (to avoid these chemical issues).
I would take a moderate approach. For the vegetables mentioned above, try to steam them (or ferment in the case of cabbage, i.e. sauerkraut). Some raw is fine, but don’t eat ONLY raw. You can make sure you get extra iodine in your diet if you eat some of these raw, which you could do with kelp or other sea vegetables.
A lot of veggies contain some bad chemicals, but they also contain a lot of GOOD chemicals that might make up for the bad ones.
Choosing a middle of the road approach, steaming some and eating some raw will make sure you the best of both worlds. Just add a little butter to your veggies to help utilize the nutrients and you’re golden.
I just don’t by the alarmists saying microwaving is so bad for veges. I’ll take my chances. And as for broccoli, et al., I ate a ton of these microwaved vegetables and got down to 6% bf in the process. They didn’t get in my way to get really lean. IMO, eat as many darn veggies as you can whether its raw, steamed or both. You’re probably not eating enough of them anyway.