such a thing as 'too many' veggies???

banslug

banslug

Cathlete
This may seem like a silly question, but can you eat TOO MANY veggies???

I'm growing my garden as I do every year. I bought a share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) for the first time and starting this Wednesday, I'll have a weekly batch of fresh veggies from a local farm. I love my salads, stir fries, steamed veggies, veggies on the grill, etc etc etc. I'm planning on keeping lean proteins to go with all these veggies, but I wonder....CAN YOU EAT TOO MANY VEGGIES????

Too much fiber? Not enough something else? What's the scoop on this?

Gayle
 
I think it would be hard to eat too many... some peole eat 10+ servings a day. If you are having some for lunch, dinner and snacks you should be fine.
 
I think if your digestive system is okay with it, lots of veggies should be great for you.

Depending on what your diet is like now, proceed with some caution. I jumped in with both feet and added raw veggies + beans to my diet recently, and it's killing me. :rolleyes: As soon as my gut recovers, I'll start over and add the additional fiber s-l-o-w-l-y. Ugh.
 
I am a vegetarian. I eat A LOT of veggies. AND fruit. From personal experience, I say you can eat a lot and it wont be too much. If I am not eating grains or beans in a meal, I really need a LARGE quantity (of a stir fry, chunky soup or salad) to keep me going until the next meal.

A few people who have very low fiber content in their current diet may need a few days for their digestive system to adapt to increase in fiber content but even they do fine (mostly better health-wise) once the body gets accustomed.
 
Thanks, everybody! I'm not all that worried because I eat a lot of veggies right now anyway. Salads twice a day, veggie sides at 2 other meals/day, etc. Sounds good to me!

Gayle
 
I'm a vegetarian that gets about 10-15 servings of veggies a day. I've been a vegetarian for 23 years, so my body has had lots of time to get used to the extra fibre. If you aren't used to it, excessive fibre intake may mean that you aren't absorbing all the nutrients in the food, and it could be really hard on your digestive system. if you're finding that to be the case, I would freeze/dry/pickle some of the veggies for winter.
 
Well, you actually can have too many veggies that contain vitamin A. You shouldn't have more than one large serving of carrots, sweet potatoes, and similar veggies each day. Also, if you are eating so much veg, you probably don't need a vitamin supplement, and if you are eating lots of spinach, you may not need an iron supplement, but be sure that you are getting enough protein.

Be careful about your fiber intake, as well. Make sure that you are drinking water with the most fibrous veggies and don't fill up completely on them. They can swell in your GI tract and actually cause an obstruction. Now, this is with an enormous amount, but just watch for it.
 
Great feedback, everybody, thanks!

In the beginning, most of my veggies from the farm are going to be leafy greens and broccoli (that will be this week's batch). Then as the harvest starts to really turn, I'll get beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

THANKS!

Gayle
 
Gayle, I think it would be very difficult to overeat veggies. Your veggies sound wonderful! I'm on my way over....
 
Personally

no on the veggies but I have had consequences of too much fruit.

Yeast infection - both inside and under my arm pits and bottom of feet. Went to dermatologist and they couldn't figure it out by my regular MD said I was saturated with yeast. I had a yeast infection in what is left of my cervical collar. Totally weird.

Weird I know . . but since I have started to limit my fruit the problems are clearing up on their own.
 
I knew a kid who liked to eat too much fruit. He had to cut back after he earned the nickname "Goose" :p
 
Sorry, Beavs, but I'm scratching my head on that.....you may need to explain it to me....I've had a LONG couple of weeks here.

Gayle
 
Stands to reason to me Beavs...the word for sh*t in many Indian languages is goo. We just leave out the "se."

I am a goose...I go potty a lot :) Isnt that better than not going potty enough?

I read somewhere that incidence of colon cancer is lower in cultures where the diet is fibre-rich / vegetarian.

ETA: Due apologies to all sensitivities I may have offended!
 
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baylian said:
no on the veggies but I have had consequences of too much fruit.

Yeast infection - both inside and under my arm pits and bottom of feet. Went to dermatologist and they couldn't figure it out by my regular MD said I was saturated with yeast. I had a yeast infection in what is left of my cervical collar. Totally weird.

Weird I know . . but since I have started to limit my fruit the problems are clearing up on their own.
Click to expand...

That sounds like it must have been so uncomfortable. I am sorry you had to undergo this.

My uncle is a doc and he inculcated the habit in my family since I was a child, of giving all sugary foods (mainly foods with added sugar and also ultra-sweet fruits like grapes, bananas and mangos) a break during any kind of infection, even a simple sore throat. I can swear it helps me recover faster. Lozenges with added sugar make my throat / cough worse if I am fighting a respiratory tract infection.
 
Vee, funny you should post this. I was ill a few weeks ago and the doctor told me to stay away from sugar.
 
I think it would be hard to get 'too many' veggies, unless you end up eating just a few types and missing in some nutrients, or eating too much of certain veggies that might block absorption of nutrients (ie: the oxalic acid in spinach and chard that can reduce calcium absorption).

As for vitamin A in veggies : most of it will be in the form of beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A as needed. I've never heard of anyone getting too much vitamin A from plants.
 
banslug said:
In the beginning, most of my veggies from the farm are going to be leafy greens and broccoli (that will be this week's batch). Then as the harvest starts to really turn, I'll get beans, peas, peppers, tomatoes, etc.
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Gayle, leafy greens are the BEST of the veggies. If you haven't tried them already, you might want to check out green smoothies (a combo of fruits and green veggies. If you're a newbie to them, then start with about 80% fruits and 20% veggies--kale is a good one. Adjust proportions as your tastebuds get used to the green, and you might even start to crave greens! Note: a powerful blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec is essential for making these).
 
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