How do you live if you don't eat vegetables?
By ZenDove
@ZenDove (698)
United States
March 19, 2007 7:02pm CST
I was responding to winterrose's discussion on foods that she would never try when I noticed that several members listed vegetables as food they'd never eat. My husband has never eaten a salad in his life, he even takes the lettuce off his hamburgers. I'm concerned for him and those other anti-veggie mylotters because vegetables are such a key part of healthy living.
I was reading just today this book, "Super Foods: 14 foods that will change your life" in which their researchers urge you to have 5-7 helpings of vegetables a day. Now, that only comes to about 3 cups but, for a lot of you, I know it might as well be 3 bushels! You're just not going to eat it. This book also states that 25% of people are born with a natural aversion to vegetables, the sight and smell to them are disgusting. Is this how you feel about vegetables?
I've tried to get my husband to try so many different kinds of vegetables in so many ways, it's just not happening. I told him to think of it as medicine - you need this to live. You simply can't get the nutrients and enzymes that your body needs from processed supplements. Vitamins are not gonna cut it. So, mylotters, what do you do when you just cannot abide vegetables? How do you get what your body needs?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@shmeedia (1044)
• Canada
21 Mar 07
do you bake/cook much? girl, i need to get you some crazy recipes for brownies, bread and cake...all of which are made with either zucchini, alfalfa sprouts or tomato!
my favorite is the alfalfa brownies....he will never know there are vegetables in his sweets! it doesn't taste like anything, though i would puree the alfalfa rather than using as is because he will think the texture is a bit strange. these are all my moms recipes, and i remember a dinner guest pulling 'strings' out of his brownie cause he thought they were hairs :D
otherwise, i am fussy with my veggies too, and mostly it's because of what's available in the stores in my area! it used to be i had access to green grocers or fruit and veggie shops, but now it seems those stores can't sustain themselves and get gobbled up by the large grocery chains. the fruits and veggies sold there are highly overpriced and typically not very good ;)
i often feel worried that i'm not eating enough fruits and veggies either but try to get my nutrients from supplements, juices or beverages that contain added stuff (like OJ now has variants containing calcium, for example).
does your hubby have any aversion to fruits? or only vegetables? if it's only veggies, you might be able to 'trick' him into drinking smoothies or other fruit punches that have veggies thrown in a la V8 or something.
holler if you want my recipes though, i'll ask my mom about them :)
1 person likes this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
21 Mar 07
ALFALFA brownies! Oh, yes! Nothing would please me more than to get something healthy down his gullet without having to threaten or cajole. I've tried zucchini bread but he knew, so that was doomed before the first bite. Ask your mom if she knows of any sneaky sweet potato recipes. I've read about these kinds of recipes before but never believed that they could pass. I've eaten dessert in vegetarian restaurants, even once in a totally raw restaurant - and you can always tell the difference.
He doesn't eat fruit either. He'll drink some fruit juices, not often though. I've tried V8, no luck. He has promised to try some smoothies if I make them at home, so we'll see.
I've thought about ordering veggies and grains from online. I used to get my beans and rice from a specialty website - I don't recall the name, right now. I know that I can get better fruit online, I'll have to look into the veggie thing. I expect the prices to be a bit much but it's not something I'll do every week. It would just be nice to have something closer to "farm-stand" fresh than what I can find in the grocery stores.
Thanks for some great ideas and I'll look for those recipes. ( Give my Thanks to Mom)
1 person likes this
@shmeedia (1044)
• Canada
22 Mar 07
recipes on the way...i should be having a `date`with mom sometime in the next week or so, so i`ll scrounge for all her recipes!!! i`m sure there are some with sweet potato in them too! i actually love sweet potato because it hides so nicely as a sweet dessert! a japanese friend of mine mashed it up with green tea powder, sugar and cooked it sort of like a custard. topped with maple syrup or chocolate syrup, it`s really awesome!!! :)
@winterose (39887)
• Canada
20 Mar 07
my son never ate veggies as a child, I was almost pulling my hair out trying to make him eat them. I wrote a story about it as well. Today he will eat a few but only when he feels like it and not weekly either. He just does it I don't know how but can't force him, he is 30 years old
1 person likes this
@ZenDove (698)
• United States
20 Mar 07
My husband is 32 and I have tried all the tricks recommended to get kids to eat veggies- hiding them in soups and casseroles, melted cheese, cajoling, reasoning - nothing works. He doesn't even eat fruit. If I could just get him to eat blueberries, something green and some kind of nut (sunflower seeds, walnuts, etc.) once a day, I would feel accomplished. Funny thing is, my kids were practically vegetarians when they were little. I started them out on wheat grass and cod liver oil - no meat, no dairy. Hardcore. I figured if they learned from birth, it would stay with them through life.(My mother used to slip them pieces of bacon and fried chicken!) Now, as adults, sure they eat fast food and worse. But they don't consider it a meal without something green on their plates and they're raising their children to eat veggies. I wish I could at least influence my husband a little bit. Instead, I find myself eating more of his junk.
Maybe you could get your son to read the book "Super Foods" They have a lot of practical ways to improve your diet without getting fanatical about it. Thanks for responding...and listening to my rant. :-)
