I do like Dr. Eric Berg, but I was wondering what everyone’s take on his stance of eating 7 to 10 cups of leafy greens a day. In one video he says that it prevents a fatty liver; in another he talks about getting your potassium in through leafy greens. I am trying to eat more salads lately, but more because of the potassium. I probably am lucky if I’m eating 2 cups worth every few days though.
Thoughts?
Edit to add link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8dWWoADCFM
I like him too, but some of his stuff just ain’t my thing. I haven’t eaten 2 cups worth of leafy greens in the 10 months i’ve been keto, my potassium is fine and my ALT/AST were cut by 40%. Some people may need it, but a blanket 10 cups a day seems like a LOT.
Edit: And I don’t mean 2 cups in a day, I mean 2 cups total.
I eat lots of spinach, Kale, broccoli, cauli. Definitely a few (3 or 4?) cups per day of veggies. I personally _feel better _ w/ the veggies. When it’s just meat and fat for me I feel a bit off/naucious. I can see that others would be different. I keep below 20 carb/day. I tested my blood ketones yesterday and I was at 3.9 so I don’t think it’s hurting ketosis.
I could totally eat veggie-free and have most of the time. I like a nice salad every now and then, but it’s not something I want daily.
My one meal a day usually includes a salad–but nowhere near 7-10 cups of green leafies.
When I heard Berg’s claim that I needed the veggies for potassium, I figured there had to be a better way to get it. I now use a salt substitute called Salt for Life. It has 3 times as much potassium as sodium, so I go out of my way to use it. I have no idea how effective/bioavailable it is. But it’s way more doable than eating an entire field of greens each night.
Ya, Dr Terry Wahls recommends a lot of veggies too and I like a lot of her material in general.
7 to 10 seems like a lot, i generally don’t have that much - depends on training load as to how many calories i consume.
i normally stick with (i think it was) Volek and Phinneys guideline of two servings a day the size of your fist. and if your fist is bigger than mine, then of course - you can eat more salad!
it could have been Eric Westman though, or Mike Eades (there are so many references!)
Dr Mercola (yes, I know not everyone is a fan…) recommends Himalayan Pink salt as having a better mix of minerals, than even sea salt, including a better balance of potassium and sodium.
Personally I (occasionally) use potassium bicarbonate, although I am wary of going overboard with it: many people seem to advise much more caution over potassium supplementation than say, magnesium. I’m not sure of all the reasons, but it must presumably be the case that it’s easier to knock the potassium levels off kilter than the sodium levels.
One kind of rule of thumb that I’ve semi-memorised is that potassium is important inside our cells, while sodium is important outside. So I assume it’s something to do with that.
However, I assume that the amount of potassium in sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, and even Lo-Salt and the like, is not enough to worry about.
(I usually try to balance out my potassium bicarbonate with sodium bicarbonate, or else some sea salt).
I don’t buy in to the need for leafy greens, or any vegetables or fruits. I believe these things were eaten for variety, not need. Meat is much more nutrient dense than plants, and these nutrients are easily available in meats. I find it much more believable that people boiled up meats all day and then ate the meat and drank the mineral-rich broth. It just isn’t reasonable that people would have stuffed their faces with copious amounts of leafy greens to maintain excellent health.
Perhaps if they were starving?
A cup of leafy greens might sound like a lot, but raw greens take up a lot of space so it really is only about 1 ounce. Greens are mostly carbs with just a little protein and essentially zero fat and might sound like a poor choice for keto. But they aren’t high carb, they are mostly water by weight and a good fraction of the carbs is fiber. The insulin index of greens (a rating of strength of insulin response to a food) is very low, a fraction of the insulin index of meats, especially lean ones like chicken breast.
Per calorie the vitamin and mineral content of greens is high and drenched in a fatty dressing greens fit in well with a keto diet and can be eaten with little concern for restraint or counting grams. For people who need a full stomach to feel full, filling up on greens can be a good strategy.
8 cups (raw) spinach isn’t very much after it gets sauted. That big bag of it is barely enough for a family unless they each only eat a small spoon full
I enjoy the “crunch” of a green salad at times, and it does slow down eating for all the chewing it takes, but as for filling me up, protein and plenty of animal fat does a perfect job of that. I realize we are all different. If someone enjoys eating leafy greens; go ahead and eat them, but Dr. Berg’s recommendation for 7 to 10 cups a day is just unnecessary overthinking, in my opinion.
Even back in the days when I was a vegetarian, I did not eat 10 cups of leafy greens. And I had them at every meal. I was into eating the rainbow, yellow, green, orange, red, etc. I did ok on the veggie diet, but I have more energy and stamina now and I was in my 20s/early30s when I was a veghead. I still love veggies, always have, but I stay under 50 g per day always now and most days it is around 20 g.
I get potassium from multiple sources. I even take a small supplement as I do for magnesium. Sodium, I get from H. salt (love the crunchy nuggests) and sea salt.
I think some of his info is useful… but like he says drinking water isn’t necessary and he only drinks 2-3 small glasses of sparkling water a day and it makes me wonder if that’s why he has such poor coloring and lifeless looking skin and hair.
On a good day I can get in about 4 cups of leafy greens… more than that I can’t manage to eat much more and end up being way under on protein