Advantages and disadvanages of heating/cooking leafy greens

[gracezw]

What do Dr. McDougall and JeffN say about eating leafy greens: raw vs. heated/cooked? How are they compared? Is one way better than the other?

What are the advantages and disadvantages about heated/cooked leafy greens?

For advantages, what about reducing the volume, killing foodborne bacteria and viruses? And what else?

For disadvantages, what about losing some vitamins? And what else?

[VeggieSue]

What do Dr. McDougall and JeffN say about eating leafy greens

Offhand, I can't recall either of them mentioning leafy greens specifically - not whether they're better cooked or raw, not how much, not when. They're just another non-starchy vegetable to enjoyed along with all the others as part of a meal, not the bulk of one.

OK, not true. They're mentioned as ingredients in various recipes in the newsletters; we're told a diet of primarily leafy greens will keep us hungry and fatigued; we're told things like kale, cabbage, collards, etc. are "super-collectors" of poisonous heavy metals and shouldn't be eaten in mass quantities.

I got all these mentions doing a search on the main site (not the message board portion) using the word "leafy" in the search box. Most of the mentions, though, were as a recipe ingredient, to either add into or serve the recipe over your favorite leafy green. This is the best you get out of me at 6am on a Sunday.

[Lyndzie]

I believe that cooking some foods might reduce the overall amount of vitamins, but more are bioavailable, so in the end your body absorbs more.

But, this is missing the forest for the trees. This way of eating is so rich in vitamins and minerals, the slight difference in nutritional availability is a moot point.

Cooking to kill pathogens is a good point, but that really hasn’t been an issue that I can recall except for lettuce, which is always eaten raw. This might be of more importance in other parts of the world.

This thread might help answer your question:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=28413

[f1jim]

I also agree the important thing is get greens in your diet. The differences in type of cooking, or not cooking is small when looking at the big picture. I like them every possible way and probably should eat more.
f1jim

[michaelswarm]

Advantage for cooking: reduces in volume, so you can eat a tremendous amount of greens. Today I steamed 2 large bunches of spinach, which disappeared as just a layer in my baked pasta dish.

Advantage for raw: I cannot imagine anything other than a raw lettuce salad. I like the crunch of fresh lettuce leaves on sandwiches and tacos.

Dr McDougall and Jeff Novick seem to mildly disagree with some other doctors about the importance of greens. Here they seem to be just another vegetable in a healthy diet.

[Taggart]

I don't know. It's not like we're eating reams of leafy greens cooked or raw, but we do try to eat them every day. What I have noticed lately though is that even though I'm still on a low dosage BP pill, after decades my blood pressure is not spiking into the 140's as much as it used to. More often in the low 130's at worst and quite often in the low 120's or below. I take my blood pressure three times a day and from what I can see it's the leafy greens giving me better results, though still a work in progress. They seem to open up my arteries somewhat. My wife and I don't even seem to bother with salads much anymore. Just strip a few shards off a lettuce head, wash under tap water, put on a plate and chew at random along with the main course.

[Mom+Me]

I don't know. It's not like we're eating reams of leafy greens cooked or raw, but we do try to eat them every day. What I have noticed lately though is that even though I'm still on a low dosage BP pill, after decades my blood pressure is not spiking into the 140's as much as it used to. More often in the low 130's at worst and quite often in the low 120's or below. I take my blood pressure three times a day and from what I can see it's the leafy greens giving me better results, though still a work in progress. They seem to open up my arteries somewhat. My wife and I don't even seem to bother with salads much anymore. Just strip a few shards off a lettuce head, wash under tap water, put on a plate and chew at random along with the main course.

Thank you for sharing your experiences--very interesting and encouraging! I'll be sure to share your results with family and friends who hate cooked greens. I know, it is "just" your observations and technically not medically validated, etc., so I am not holding you liable for anything.

Congratulations on your results!

[Taggart]

A few shards of wet lettuce? Wow, you're making this diet sound a lot more severe than it needs to be.

For tasty alternatives, I recommend that you check out the recipes, both on this site and in Dr. McD's books. You'll find lots of delicious salads.

This is a diet to live with. Not a punishment to endure.

Well, if I didn't get excited taste wise with salads when I was a kid, and still not at the age of 70, I doubt that will change before death. Doesn't mean I don't eat some leafy greens.

I do cartwheels after my morning cooked oat groats and fist pumps after eating a piece of fruit throughout the day though.

[Taggart]

I don't know. It's not like we're eating reams of leafy greens cooked or raw, but we do try to eat them every day. What I have noticed lately though is that even though I'm still on a low dosage BP pill, after decades my blood pressure is not spiking into the 140's as much as it used to. More often in the low 130's at worst and quite often in the low 120's or below. I take my blood pressure three times a day and from what I can see it's the leafy greens giving me better results, though still a work in progress. They seem to open up my arteries somewhat. My wife and I don't even seem to bother with salads much anymore. Just strip a few shards off a lettuce head, wash under tap water, put on a plate and chew at random along with the main course.

Thank you for sharing your experiences--very interesting and encouraging! I'll be sure to share your results with family and friends who hate cooked greens. I know, it is "just" your observations and technically not medically validated, etc., so I am not holding you liable for anything.

Congratulations on your results!

Thanks for the kind words. Working on how many leafy greens does it take to get my blood pressure down and stay down. Just a personal thing I have to figure out for myself. I even munched on some lettuce leaves for my last meal today while at the same time eating a couple of plain small nuked potatoes and a cup of beans. At least nobody can accuse me of not including starches.

[AnnetteW]

The other day I had an entire bunch of cooked beet greens with my lunch (not the stems, just the greens) and some time afterwards took my blood pressure and it was 112/70. I still have a BP that tends to run a bit high, in the 130's/80's range. It pops around a lot still, and I was on meds in the past. I wish I could buy just the greens and not the beets. I love beets, but I can eat a lot more greens than I can beets. I will cook up the beets finally today though. I just add balsamic vinegar to them, and some thinly sliced onion and pepper, and it makes a great beet salad, I finally can eat that without added salt.

[gracezw]

VeggieSue,

Thank you for writing to me at 6am on Sunday! You were nice, alert and helpful.

Talking about heavy metal pollution, animal-based is worse than plant-based. Dr. Greger has an article here:

Cadmium & Cancer: Plant vs. Animal Foods
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM June 16th, 2014 Volume 19
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/cadmiu ... mal-foods/

Lynzie, thank you too. You have made good points. The thread from JeffN you pointed to talks about the quantities of leafy greens, instead of heating/cooking of them.

Jim, yes, I agree about looking at the big picture. I try to eat more leafy greens than what is easy for me for better heart health. Also I have found that the more leafy greens I eat, I feel and am lighter as they help increase the size and weight of my stool.

Michael, you have said well about the raw and cooked leafy greens. Thank you for helping me understand Dr. McD and JeffN among other WFP doctors. I would like to add that it is easier for me to eat arugula cooked than raw as raw tastes bitter and takes more chewing.

Taggart, it is good that you have figure out the possible connection between leafy greens and your blood pressure. I eat lettuce on its own without trying to make them part of a salad as well. As Mom+Me said, quite tasty and refreshing and simple! I enjoy biting into the whole head of a crunchy iceberg until it disappears.

Annette, thank you for sharing. My husband likes to eat chard which is related to beet greens and tastes similar. I have trained myself to eat red cabbage raw.

[AnnetteW]

I will have to try some chard. I always hated greens in the past, but I'm learning to like them more and more. They are really easy to eat with something else that is quite flavorful, like a hearty soup or chili, or I add dal on top a lot too.

[gracezw]

That is good! Chard, beer greens, spinach and daisy greens taste naturally salty because they contain more sodium than all other greens. Also chards are very easy to grow. We plan to grow them again this winter.

I will have to try some chard. I always hated greens in the past, but I'm learning to like them more and more. They are really easy to eat with something else that is quite flavorful, like a hearty soup or chili, or I add dal on top a lot too.

[Mayapples]

They are really easy to eat with something else that is quite flavorful, like a hearty soup or chili, or I add dal on top a lot too.

I've started adding a bunch of greens into my pasta water toward the end of cooking, draining them together, then adding sauce to the lot. I'm finding I like them quite a bit this way, and even prefer my pasta this way (which is saying something, as I've always been a huge pasta lover).

[Mom+Me]

That is good! Chard, beer greens, spinach and daisy greens taste naturally salty because they contain more sodium than all other greens. Also chards are very easy to grow. We plan to grow them again this winter.

I will have to try some chard. I always hated greens in the past, but I'm learning to like them more and more. They are really easy to eat with something else that is quite flavorful, like a hearty soup or chili, or I add dal on top a lot too.

Yes, chards are a favorite here, but sometimes taste too salty for my liking. Yet I love picking them out of a 1 pound tub of organic mixed greens. I seem to gravitate to the baby chard first..maybe in place of salty potato chips--LOL!

Another way I find it easy to get a lot of raw greens (like the baby mixed and baby spinach) is to have a huge (like a 3 quart or greater) bowl where I place the greens, then I chop them down with kitchen shears or an ulu type of knife to make it less chewing and then I'll plop some mashed potatoes or chili or just about anything cooked, really. I find it easy to consume a lot of greens with some cooked food--even pasta marinara--on top. Take a few mouthful of greens and then a mouthful of the cooked--no dressing is needed.

Hmm...daisy greens. Never had those before! Where do you find them to purchase?

Neat about growing your own chard.