Eat your veggies, or you’ll skip dessert.” When you were young, I really doubt you understood the importance of this menace. But whether you like it or not – mom was right on that one. Veggies are essential to lose weight and stay healthy.
Fat-Burning Veggies?
First, let’s talk about quantities. In the US, a mere 26.3% of adults consume three or more vegetables per day. That’s largely insufficient. Veggies are low on calories, filling, high in nutrients, and have a very strong detoxifying effect on your body. They are so beneficial to your fat loss that I won’t even recommend a number of portions to shoot for – simply eat more than you are eating right now. Be warned though – certain veggies are very high in carbs, so you might need to eat them in moderation. Choose your veggies wisely.
The Veggies Faceoff
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Should I Count Carbs In Veggies?
Unless you’re on a very strict bodybuilding-style diet where you have to reduce carbs methodically, I wouldn’t count veggie carbs in your daily total. Of course, this excludes high-carb starchy veggies, which you need to eat strategically like any other high carb source. Eating more veggies in general will prevent you from eating calorie-dense foods, and will probably help you keep your calories in control.
Are Raw Veggies Healthier?
You might have heard that raw veggies are better than cooked veggies because cooking destroys essential enzymes. That’s only partially true. These plant enzymes may help you digest your food, but most of them are destroyed during mastication and digestion anyway. While eating raw veggies is very important, some are in fact healthier when cooked. Carrots, spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, cabbage, peppers and many other vegetables contain more antioxidants such as carotenoids and ferulic acid when cooked – while veggies that are high in vitamin C will contain more of it when eaten raw. To retain most of the nutrients during cooking, steam your veggies instead of boiling them.
Will Cruciferous Veggies Suppress My Thyroid?
Some say raw cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower have a thyroid-suppressing effect. And because your thyroid health is one of the keys to your fat loss, many go as far as to say these veggies could make you fat. To get rid of these dangerous side effects, the same people usually recommend to cook or ferment these veggies to get rid of this dangerous side effect. That’s complete non-sense. First of all, fermenting veggies actually increases the amount of goitrogens (the so-called hormone suppressing compound) in them. On the other hand, cooking these veggies will only remove about 30%of the goitrogens. Because goitrogens prevent your body from absorbing some iodine, the only way raw cruciferous veggies will be a problem for you is if you already suffer from an iodine deficiency. Regularly eating wild-caught fish, seafood, eggs and beans will give you plenty of iodine.
“But I Don’t Like Veggies!”
Eating a lot of veggies when you’re not used to it can be difficult at first. Here are 4 ways you can make the process easier:
1. Juice your veggies
Juicing your veggies will help you consume more.
2. Veggies in shakes
The thought of putting spinach or kale in your favorite shake might be repelling, but trust me – it adds a lot of nutrition without changing the taste.
3. Hide veggies in recipes
Cauliflower in mashed potatoes, extra spinach in tomato sauce – there are many creative ways to add veggies to certain meals, while making sure no one in the household even knows about it.
4. Use low-calorie healthy dips
Most packaged veggie dips you’ll find in supermarkets are very calorie-dense and contain all the wrong ingredients.
Local VS Imported VS Frozen VS Canned
The rule of thumb to find the most nutritious veggies is this – the fastest veggies go from a crop to your plate; the more nutrition will be left in them.
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Are Vine Ripened Veggies Better?
Ripe veggies are more nutritious than veggies that have not matured yet. However, studies prove there is very little difference between vine-ripened veggies and veggies that ripened after being picked.
Two Forgotten Factors Robbing Your Precious Nutrients
Two other little-known factors can make the nutrition content of your veggies vary quite a lot – the soil quality and breeding. Because agriculture has selected certain genetics to maximize sugar content and resistance to certain pests – all while decreasing the soils’ quality with abusive farming practices – most veggies and fruits grown today now contain way less nutrients than 50 years ago:
- One study shows a reduction of 19% calcium, 22% iron, and 14% potassium
- Another study shows a reduction of 38% vitamin B2, and important declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin C
- Another study shows a reduction of 27% calcium, 37% iron, 21% vitamin A and 30% vitamin C
- You would have to eat eight oranges today to get the same amount of vitamin A your grandparents got from a single orange
One more that proof veggies grown locally on healthy soils might pack a lot more nutrition.
Is Organic Better?
Not necessarily. Local veggies will always be more nutritious than organic imported veggies, simply because they are fresher. That being said, choosing organic will help you prevent exposure to some of the 4.5 billion pounds of pesticides Americans are exposed to every year. Among other things, these pesticides are shown to increase
risks of cancer.
The Dirty Dozen “Plus”
These veggies and fruits are known to contain a vast array of pesticides and herbicides. If you can, always go organic on those.
- Apples
- Celery
- Sweet bell peppers
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Nectarines (imported)
- Grapes
- Green beans
- Lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Blueberries (domestic)
- Potatoes
Plus – Kale, collars and leafy greens. These may contain organophosphate insecticides, which the Environmental Work Group (EWG) characterizes as “highly toxic” and of special concern.
The Clean 15 “Minus”
These veggies usually contain low amounts of pesticides and herbicides. You can eat their non-organic version safely.
- Onions
- Pineapples
- Avocado
- Cabbage
- Sweet peas
- Asparagus
- Mangoes
- Eggplant
- Kiwi
- Cantaloupe (domestic)
- Sweet potatoes
- Grapefruit
- Watermelon
- Mushrooms
Minus– Sweet corn. Even though it’s low in pesticides, you should always choose organic corn to avoid GMOs.
How To Save A Ton on Probiotics Every Year
Are you spending your hard earned cash on probiotics supplements? There’s no doubt some of these supplements might be beneficial to your digestive health – but the fact is that unlike Canada and some European countries, the United States has little governmental standards for probiotics. In other words, manufacturers can get away with selling you potentially useless pills for the full price. A little-known way to get a ton of probiotics for a fraction of the price is to eat fermented veggies like sauerkraut. Check out this tutorial to learn how to do this at home: nickpineault.com/fermented-veggies
While most probiotic pills usually contain 10 to 50 billion bacteria units, sauerkraut could contain anywhere between 1-1.5 billion bacteria units, and up to a whopping 10 trillion bacteria units per 25 g serving (a handful) – while packing less than 10 calories.
Bonus, fermented veggies are great detoxifiers shown to remove toxins and heavy metals from the body.
Are Certain Veggies Slowing You Down?
Veggies are known to be healthy, and the usual advice with them is usually “eat more”. But like this is the case with any other food, you must monitor how your body reacts to certain types of veggies. As an example, people who suffer from chronic digestive problems should probably eat fewer vegetables, to help their digestive system heal better. If you have serious health issues that never seem to go away no matter how healthy you eat, monitor your reactions around these particular veggies:
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The Truth About Veggie Products
Don’t fall for vegetable derivatives or food products with added veggies. Often times, they are devoid of any nutrition.
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Summary
- Eating more veggies will probably help you burn more fat.
- While they’re technically veggies, sweet potatoes and potatoes fall in the carbs category with bread, pasta and other grains. Adjust your consumption accordingly.
- Cruciferous veggies like broccoli and cauliflower are a great choice and won’t suppress your thyroid if you don’t have any iodine deficiency.
- Don’t count veggie calories and carbs in your daily limit. More is better.
- Try to buy fresh local veggies most of the time.
- Fresher is always more nutritious.
- If you can, always eat the organic version of veggies that are in the “Dirty Dozen Plus” list.
- Eat more fermented veggies, which may contain even more probiotics than supplements for a small fraction of the price.
- Certain veggies may give you adverse reactions.
- Never be afraid to test and monitor how your body reacts to certain foods.
- Don’t fall for food products that are said to contain “servings of vegetables”. They often show no benefit.
