Hi all!

I really like fruit and am losing pounds pretty well while eating quite a lot of it, and I far prefer it to veggies. I've been having fruit salad for lunch and meat or eggs or fish etc. for dinner, but somehow after my protein I really don't feel like the veg any more, but a nice sweet and juicy fruit ... oh, yessss!!! and I do feel that cutting down on my protein in favour of vegs is not good.

So the question is: As far as vitamins and minerals and fiber etc. etc. is it okay to prefer fruit to/cut out veggies?

I await your replies, banana in hand. Thanks folks.

Liv

Hi Liv! Interesting question! What you're looking for (i think?) is nutrient-dense/low-glycemic fruits.

As far as substituting fruits for veggies, i don't really know -- i assume the vitamins and minerals are going to vary, and probably the main difference will be the sugar content. Uh ... i think!

There's at least one nutritional database online which lists the stats for vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. Here's the one i'm familiar with, but somebody else might know of others --

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl

If you're pressed for time or just not in the mood to sift through the database, i'll be happy to compile a list for you, as i'm "between careers" at the moment, and looking up info just happens to be one of my favorite obsessions

Foodie

Hi there Foodie!

Thanks for your advice and the link. Unfortunately I only have internet in my office and can't spend much time looking around so if you're in the mood for looking up what you said I'm sure it'll be helpful to all of us!!! And really kind of you!!

Keep up the good work ... I love this site and feel very supported! I'm sure you will too!

Thanks again
Liv

the best fruits for their nutritional wallop are also the lowest carb ones (how nice of it to be designed that way!) --blueberries, all other berries, and canteloupe. Otherwise, to optimize weight loss, choose the most vividly coloured fruit (plums are far more nutritious than apples, for instance) and the tartest fruit (grapefruit rather than oranges).

You do need your veggies, though. If you're only going to eat a serving per day, to optimize nutrients, choose the darkest greens: spinach, kale, beet greens, chard.
Lots of "vegetables" are actually, botanically, fruit: green peppers, tomatoes, squash, eggplant. You might end up liking those more than roots and leaves once you know they're actually fruit.

HTH!

Great info Razzle!

Hey Liv, a great way to "Eat Your Veggies" is SOUP! i never liked kale until today -- all day yesterday and all last night i had simmering on the stove a big pot of home-made pork broth (with lots of fresh garlic and herbs and spices and some green veggies), strained it this morning to obtain just the clear, nutrient-rich broth, then added a whole bunch of raw kale, Italian parsley, leeks, and big chunks of Morels ... WOW. So yummy and nutritious and filling -- great diet food. It was missing something and after tweaking it a bit i realized what it was -- cayenne. Now it's perfect and my tummy is happy

Hi! You're welcome! It's great to have internet access to such an abundance of information (yum!) -- isn't technology amazing!

Okay i'll work up a list of fruits and veggies with the nutrients and will post that here in a day or two.

O my gosh! i think i may have bitten off more than i can chew! btw, that's one of my favorite Southernisms

There is SO much data out there re edible plants! Lists with moisture content, protein, fat, calories, carbohydrate, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, vitamins A B C and E, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, dietary folate equivalents, cholesterol, and other mysterious things. So far i can't find a chart that ONLY lists fruits and veggies. So i'm going to try to assemble one from the info at that Nutrient Data Laboratory website. It's going to take a while, LOL

In the meantime, here's a nice little page with a chart (at the bottom) with a few items -- http://www.thefruitpages.com/

Also a nice chart at http://www.cspinet.org/nah/fantfruit.htm

Info on vitamin and mineral contents of several fruits and veggies at http://www.innerself.com/Magazine/H...ll_VITAMINs.htm and http://www.innerself.com/Magazine/H...ll_minerals.htm

Skimming briefly it seems that fruits are *generally* higher in Vitamin C and the B-complex vitamins, while veggies are *generally* higher in Vitamin A and the minerals.

Did you know olives are a fruit? I didn't know that!

Here are the plants i'll be charting -- please let me know if there are any i've left out, or ones that i've included which shouldn't be. I'm including only unprocessed, whole foods which can be safely eaten raw. But i'm not familiar with several of these items, so correct me if they have to be cooked, or if they're non-paleo.

(begin list)

Acorn squash
Alfalfa sprouts
Almonds
Apple (sour)
Apple (sweet)
Apricot
Artichoke
Arugula
Asparagus
Avocado
Balsam pear
Bamboo shoots
Banana (common yellow)
Banana (red)
Bean sprouts
Beet greens
Blackberries
Blueberries
Bok choy
Borage
Brazil nuts
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Cabbage (red)
Cabbage (common green)
Canteloupe
Capers
Carambola (a.k.a. star fruit)
Casaba melon
Cauliflower
Celery
Chayote
Cherry (sour)
Cherry (sweet)
Chestnuts (European)
Chestnuts (Asian water chestnuts)
Chicory greens
Chives
Chrysanthemum flowers
Coconut
Collard greens
Cranberries
Cress (garden)
Cress (watercress)
Crookneck squash (a.k.a. summer squash)
Cucumber
Currant
Daikon (a.k.a. Asian radish)
Dandelion greens
Dates
Dock (a.k.a. sorrel)
Eggplant (a.k.a. aubergine)
Elderberries
Endive (a.k.a. escarole)
Fennel
Figs
Gai choy (a.k.a. mustard cabbage)
Garlic
Ginger
Gooseberries
Grapes
Grape leaves
Grapefruit
Guava <--- supposedly the healthiest fruit ever!
Hickory nuts
Honeydew melon
Horseradish
Java plum
Kale
Kiwi
Kohlrabi
Kumquat
Leek
Lemon
Lettuce (Romaine)
Lettuce (loose leaf)
Lime
Loganberries
Macadamia nuts
Mango
Mulberries
Mushrooms (not really a plant, but close enough)
Mustard greens
Nectarine
Okra
Olives
Onions
Orange (common)
Orange (red)
Papaya
Parsley
Passion fruit (a.k.a.guavadilla)
Peach
Pear
Pecans
Pepper (bell or sweet)
Pepper (Jalapeno)
Pepper (chili)
Persimmon
Pineapple
Plantain <-- i think you have to cook these?
Plum
Poke greens
Poke shoots
Prickly pear
Pumpkin flowers
Pumpkin leaf
Purslane
Radicchio
Radish
Raspberries
Salsify
Sapote
Scallion (a.k.a. green onion)
Seaweed
Sesame seeds
Snowpea pods
Spinach
Strawberries
Sunflower seeds
Sweet potato leaf
Swiss chard
Tamarind
Tangerine
Taro leaf
Taro shoots
Tomatillo
Tomato
Turnip greens
Walnuts
Watermelon
Zucchini

(end list)

Foodie!! You really are efficient!!!!

Your list seems pretty complete to me! And I don't know most of the fruit and veggies listed either! Good work there and ... GEE! THANKS!!! And I'll definitely check out those websites!!!!

Bye Liv!

Foodie!! You really are efficient!!!!

Your list seems pretty complete to me! And I don't know most of the fruit and veggies listed either! Good work there and ... GEE! THANKS!!! And I'll definitely check out those websites!!!!

Bye Liv!

Sorry, I missed you there the first time round.

Thanks for the info, of course, and I'll definitely try to integrate my veggies in the evening with lots of green stuff , but I was just thinking that compared to how I was eating before, I'm still getting so many vitamins and minerals and good food into me that all my little cells are shrieking YAY!! Or kind of .... and I'm just not tired any more. Every evening I would go home after work and have a nap, cause I couldn't get through an evening. And then I'd still need about 9 hours sleep. Now no nap and I'm doing good on about 7 hours.

That's a big present from life and my fruity friends!!!

Bye
Liv

LOL Not efficient, just obsessive -- and unemployed, ha!

Well as you can see i still haven't compiled the list! Sometimes i seem to be living in slow motion

Liv, i'm sorry, i've been trying to compile that comparison chart of fruits and veggies, but there's just too much info! Along with calories, fiber, carbohydrate, fat, protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorous, etc., there's also dozens and dozens of phytochemicals, chellated minerals, colloidal minerals, trace minerals, antioxidants, lutein, amino acids, enzymes, etc. etc. etc. and they're all important for optimum health!

Seems like every day science is discovering new stuff they didn't even realize was in fruits and veggies and how essential it is for human health -- like a couple of days ago i happened to read a magazine article about how scientists just recently discovered that elderberries contain a super-powerful enzyme that they never heard of before but apparently it's another one of those "highly essential" things

I'm frustrated because i don't know how to chart these nearly 100 variables in any manageable way -- i think what i need is a database, and i can't find one -- yet.

I'll keep looking, but at this point i'm going to have to admit defeat, and i feel really terrible about it, 'cause i know i've let you down. I'm so sorry!

Let's take Razzle's advice and just try to eat a wide variety of fresh veggies and fruits, and trust that this variety is going to provide us with an optimum level of nutrients.

Really sorry, 'cause i sure thought it'd be easy to create a comparison chart.

Hugs anyway!
foodie

Hey Foodie, please don't worry! It was really great of you to try and I realise it's an enormous feat. And as you say, the important thing is to eat some of everything and we'll be fine. Compared to what I was eating before this WOE I'm still doing great!!!

Hugs to you too and think no more of it!!!

Liv

Liv I'm not a big veggie fan either, and I love fruit. Well, atleast oranges , bananas and apples. I really never eat veggies, except beans and stuff. Then I find out that those are lentils and are bad for you. So I stay away from them. I love corn but I rarely eat it and it's bad too. So basically those were the so-called veggies I was eating. Now I eat only fruit. I'm gonna try and steam some broccoli and try some other stuff soon. But my taste buds are not for veggies.

Either way, I'm eating healthier by ingesting more fruits for carbs intead of grains. Before I wasn't even eating fruits. Just meat and rice. How good is that?!!!

Hello, Chapinho.
If you plan to lose weight on Neanderthin, you must stay away from large amounts of fruit during your loss period. After you have lost the amount you desire, then you can go on more fruit. What I've found is that although I don't gain weight eating fruit in copious amounts, I don't lose, either. Neanderthin is not a counting carbs regimen and you would be surprised if you saw how many carbs you're getting with one piece of fruit. I wasn't losing anything and was stalled for over two months...I decided to count up the carbs in my daily intake...which I knew wouldn't be much because I was eating "all the right things." WRONG! I had over 77 grams of carbs...all in fruit and was stalled, big-time! Ray Audette recommends that you eat the equivalent of about 1/2 a pear each day...now, that's not very much fruit, I'll tell ya! After about two weeks of eating the recommended foods...meat, fish, fowl, a very few nuts (I mean a VERY few because of their carb content), green veggies, a tiny amount of fruit and berries, and plenty of pure water...your appetite will diminish and you'll suddenly have a craving for veggies like you wouldn't believe! I was never a fruit or veggie guy until this diet. Now I can't get enough of either! I will set down at the table and completely forget my meat dish as I go for the veggies first! It just comes naturally! I will eat lettuce and brocolli and even onions without any dressing, and completely raw right out of the refrigerator! Just thinking about that makes me salivate, right now. I can hardly wait to get home tonight and devour a mean salad with my home made dressing (olive oil, water, lemon juice, garlic, onion, salt, cayenne pepper, Italian Seasonings, and chili pepper) and a few raw nuts sprinkled over the top...YUMMM! My biggest sacrifice, now, is not eating too much fruit. Another thing...during the winter months our human metabolism changes for "cold weather" eating...just like dogs, and wolves, and other animals. Therefore, we tend to hold onto our weight a little tighter and it is often harder to get rid of it...Cave men didn't eat a lot of fruit, veggies, nuts or berries during the winter months. They ate meat and fat! Lesson to be learned.