Vegetable/Greens Supplement - Opinions/Recommendations

Paully D

Hi guys,

I posted a few weeks back about purchasing a blender in order to increase my fruit and veg intake. My fruit intake has increased 100 fold and I'm fine in that department (usually getting 5 or 6 different types of fruit into a smoothie every morning), but the amount of veg I get still has dramatic room for improvement.

I've read about these vegetable/green supplements that can assist in providing intake for those that struggle to eat enough of the aforementioned for whatever reason.

I'm just wondering 1) how effective of a supplement are they in your opinion and 2) what types would you recommend?

Tablet form would be ideal for me and I've seen a few listed on sites such as My Protein and Holland and Barrett but wouldn't be sure of which ones to go for.

Thanks all

colossus-x

Firstly I'd be a bit concerned about your fructose intake. I'm sure your exaggerating your 100 fold increase but it sound to me your making yourself addicted to your fructose ( sugar ) smoothies. If your just having the one normal sized shake in the morning that's fine but don't take anymore than that. If your coming off junk food then your smoothies are fine for a while but aim to keep them to a minimum thereafter. Better to eat the fruit also and not drink your calories.

Anyway I've never heard of such a thing of vegetable/green supplements. What do you get like some kind of Broccoli pill? Sound like total marketing garbage to me aimed at people they know don't know any better. If your really serious about being healthy then don't' waste your time or money on supplements save for maybe a multivitamin pill and vitamin D if your don't' get much sunshine and fish oil too. I take those 'just in case' there doing me any good. Sometime I feel I'm wasting my money on them thought.

Frozen veg is a great way to start getting into eating more veg. Try eating a portion of say frozen green beans before your main meal. Might sound a bit odd but it would fill you up before your main meal meaning you'd eat less of the main course ( well, possibly ) as well as getting the nutritious veg into you.

Put the veg into the smoothie

Mine this morning had spinach, cucumber, avocado, blueberries, and pineapple. Blended with unsweetened almond milk but water, or cold green tea is just as good. You would barely know there was veg in it. If you needed the extra sweetness you could always put a teeny bit of honey in, but I don't think it needs it

What kind of fruit are you putting into your morning smoothie, and what liquid are you using to blend it?

magicmushroom

5 or 6 fruits in a smoothie each morning is a lot of sugar.
The best type of smoothie to make is a green smoothie which incorporates green veg such as spinach or kale.

They can be surprisingly tasty - whoopsadaisydoodles your one sounds yummy.

I like to use half a banana, half an avocado, a big handful of spinach, a few frozen blueberries and some water. Sometimes add chia seeds when I've remembered to pick them up in Aldi.

I haven't tried it yet but I've heard that using coconut water for mixing is really yummy, I keep meaning to buy some!

ColeTrain

Take out a piece of fruit from your smoothie and just add in some spinach. You won't even know it's in there.

Next week, take out another fruit and add something like carrot or cucumber and do the same the week after.

My juice would mainly consist of spinach/kale, cucumber, carrot and an apple topped up with ice and water. Tastes fine to me at this stage and I was never one for eating veg. It's just a matter of getting used to it.