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help greens/chard/kale?

I got this big bundle of greens, it looks like its most likely some kale and some chard.

I made it into a half blended salad this morning, sweetcorns, tomato, half blended into dressing and the rest roughly torn. I then put fresh chilli and some nutoil on it. Left it to marinate.

Now I am worried these greens will be hard to digest

I expect they will soften up a great deal by dinner time.

Is it okay to eat these sorts of greens raw?

Comments

  • humanimalhumanimal Raw Newbie

    sure is it ! :) Chard also makes perfect wraps. I’m sure they will taste delicious in that marinade, no worries. Hope you enjoy them .

  • Those are the absolute best kinds of greens! They are packed with protein, vitamins and minerals. Try them in a smoothie with bananas, various fruit, and OJ. These are my favorite smoothies! I drink them all the time and they are PACKED with nutrition! Enjoy!

  • Contrary to the other opinions given, those are difficult greens to digest. The easiest greens to digest are lettuces such as iceburg and romaine, followed by baby spinach. Kale, chards and collards are tough and fibrous and eventhough they are packed with nutrients you will not get the most out of them for the amount of work your digestive system needs to do to digest them. For more information see Nora Lenz’s Rawschool web site: http://www.rawschool.com/bestrawfoods.htm

  • Thanks for that, after doing a bit of reading I realised that those sorts of greens were a waste of energy/hard to digest.

    Which isnt wise for me right now. I will stick to the chinese lettuces and spinach :)

  • Though darker/thicker greens are hard to digest, where do you draw the line as far as staying satisfied? When I eat romaine, I would have to eat a head 1-2 hours to keep from feeling hungry. Darker leaves are harder to digest, but at least I feel satisfied longer.

  • That is a habit from the cooked food days. That feeling of being satisfied does not mean you are getting the nutrients that you need. As Chris mentioned in another thread it is the feeling of your stomach being paralyzed by cooked food. It is fine to eat to feel that way in transition but to truly get to the level of eating digestible food you should try to eat the extra heads of romaine instead of the cellulose in the hard to digest kale. Have you ever tried to eat kale without soaking it or adding some oil / spice / salt / fat etc? It taste very bitter alone, this is natures indication not to eat it.

  • Yes – before and after I went raw, I always ate kale plain, alone, unsoaked, raw.

    Do you suggest eating 4 heads of romaine a day in a smoothie? I probably could in additional to a salad and everything else.

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    Wouldn’t breaking it down by blending or juicing help with the digestion? I LOVE Kale juice and when I add Kale to a smoothie, I pulverize it in the blender with water before I add the rest of the ingredients. I have never had a problem and still feel that it is a good thing to have in my diet because of the nutrients, and because I like the taste.

  • I cant stomach smoothies .. bleh.. stick to the lighter greens for now!

  • Same here, barose. Even before going raw, I’ve always liked raw, plain, kale and collard greens. They both make great wraps, and kale is really good as the base of a salad. And I still enjoy them to this day. :)

  • Glad I’m not the only one!

  • I agree w/ spiritedmama, I think the whole process of juicing/blending makes those dark leafy greens very easy to digest. I know I have never had a problem. I go to the bathroom about 3 times a day and I drink green smoothies, lettuce wraps and dark green veggie salads all the time!

    Barose and zenpawn, I’m with ya, I LOVE kale in salads and swiss chard and collard greens for wraps, yumm!

    And doesn’t iceburg lettuce have very little nutritional value??

    Everyone is different, if you’re having trouble digesting a certain food then it’s probably not a good choice for you, if not, I say go for it!

  • Sure blending will help some in digestion, but it still will not be as easy to digest as the soft greens. Really, blending to make something digestible is akin to cooking. Raw dieters say we were not born with pots or pans in our hands but we also were not born with blenders either if you think about it. Iceburg lettuce according to the SAD ‘experts’ is not nutritional but in reality it is a very nutritious food because it has all of the important nutrients and in a structure that our body can use without a lot of wasted energy.

  • Seems there are many among us human animals who do not require a blender to make so-called hard to digest greens palatable, nay, delicious, and assimilable. So, just that some prefer the silky texture and additional flavors obtained via blending up green smoothies, does not make the greens thus pureed indigestible in their unprocessed form.

  • nthmostnthmost Raw Newbie

    Based on what I’ve observed of myself and other raw foodists, the difficulty in digesting the tough hard kinds of greens comes from not chewing them enough. You gotta really pulverize them, people. “Juice your food and chew your juice,” as they say.

    Blending greens is a great way to save yourself all the chewing. Hence the green smoothie!

    Another way to help digestion of the tougher greens is to add more juicy things to your meal. Romaine and other lettuces have a higher water content than kale and chard, which means kale and chard can have the effect of dehydrated foods on your system. Again—chew! And start easy. Toss kale with a juicy grapefruit and some soaked dates, and drizzle on some walnut or almond oil. Really good (really).

    Man does this thread ever make me want a huge piece of dinosaur kale wrapped around a medjool date! Perhaps a touch of tahini too…

    ::bounds happily over to the fridge::

  • Hehe. You made me smile, nthmost. Thanks.

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