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September
7
Do We Need Greens Every Day?
Filed under Raw Food & Health, Traveling in the Raw by Frederic Patenaude
8
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I’m writing this from Rome, where I’m eating the most delicious grapes I’ve ever tasted. Let me tell you that grapes in Italy have been incredible, the best in the world in fact.
Unlike in the US, you don’t find seedless grapes here. Not that I’ve got anything against seedless grapes, but all the grapes in Italy have seeds. They are also much more flavorful, like the aromatic muscat grape, and many other varieties.
Next week, I’ll be in Greece, and from there my trip around the world continues…
Last week I posted a little video from Venice, where I talked a little bit about the challenges of traveling on the raw food diet, and some of the tips that I’ve discovered along the way.
Some people were wondering if I eat mostly fruits while traveling, and why they didn’t see me buy any greens in the video.
At home, I eat mostly fruits and vegetables, with a good amount of greens every day. But when I travel, I focus mostly on fruit, and I’m not as concerned about eating greens on a daily basis.
I do eat salads, but only when I can find some good greens and more importantly, when I have a place with a kitchen where I can prepare them.
When traveling, it’s just not worth it to try to have a “perfect” diet and try to eat enough raw, greens everywhere, especially in hotel rooms where making a salad is not convenient.
So that’s why I fall back on a mostly fruit diet at the expense of greens when I travel. Fruit is easy to find, easier to carry, and gives me the energy that I needs.
In the raw food diet, fruits are much more important than greens. Greens are secondary, and only needed as a source of minerals and vitamins.
Too many raw-foodists are overly concerned about getting enough greens every day, when they’re often not eating enough fruit to begin with.
It’s perfectly okay to go for several weeks or even months without greens.
In the long run, eating greens is important. But sometimes it’s easier to just eat fruit, especially when traveling.
Fruit has almost everything you need, so it’s my primary concern to find good fruit when I’m traveling. Whenever it’s possible, I also eat a giant salad and even eat steamed greens (such as spinach), which have extremely high nutrient density.
To get my full raw nutritional program, check out my Raw Health Starter Kit at: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/starterkit.html
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The next question I received is: “Are the fruits and vegetables I buy at the market chemical free or organic?”
The answer is NO.
It’s quite difficult to find organic produce when you travel abroad, and believe me, I have been in enough countries to know.
I consider organic food to be a minor priority in health. It doesn’t even make it in my top ten.
Most people are WAY too concerned about eating everything organic, when they haven’t even mastered the other aspects of health, such as diet, sleep and exercise.
Just eating organic food, in itself, is not something that will make a major difference in your health. And the organic produce found in health food store is not that much different from the commercial produce found anywhere else, in terms of vitamins in minerals, as some new studies have confirmed.
Don’t get me wrong. I encourage organic food and I buy organic whenever possible.
But it’s not my priority, and when I travel I’m much more concerned about finding good fruit or having enough time to exercise, than discovering where I could buy organic food.
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No, another question that came up was this: “How would you wash your fruits if you are in a country where the outside of the fruit might be contaminated, and also the water?
That’s a good question.
Raw-foodists often tend to imagine that there could never be something wrong with fruits and vegetables, but many have been seriously ill with parasites and other problems just because they ate contaminated foods in foreign countries.
So far, we’re staying in safe countries where bacterial and parasite contamination is not an issue.
In countries where that is a problem, I stick with the advice to only eat peeled fruits and avoid salads and raw vegetables.
In the tropics, there are certain parasites that can be found in lettuce leaves that can be VERY dangerous for your health. And they’re quite difficult to remove by just rinsing the produce.
That’s why in many countries I would never order a salad at a restaurant.
Fruit is safe, if you can peel it or rinse it with clean water.
That’s another reason to stick with fruit when traveling!
Ciao from Italy,
Frederic
PS: Want complete menu planners to make it easy to eat raw? Make sure to check out the Raw Vegan Mentor Club at: http://www.fredericpatenaude.com/mentorclub.html
8 Responses to “Do We Need Greens Every Day?”
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Susan says:
I am commenting on this passage from your e-mail today:
“It’s perfectly okay to go for several weeks or even months without
greens.’I think you are very misinformed and doing damage by promoting this myth.
It is only perfectly okay to go for weeks or months without greens if you
are not interested in your health. -
lola says:
I am more concerned with the myth going around that organic is not organic or not better than commericial. It’s a priority to me since chemicals & pestisides give me a headache. Although when at a restaurant, I doubt the produce is organic, if given a choice at the market I go with organic.
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Rita says:
I’m very concerned about buying organic produce. Commercial fruit and vegetables give me a headache, cause red spots, itchiness and leave a bad taste in my mouth. I can only eat commercial produce for a few days when travelling, then I must urgently look for a health food store.
I’m Italian, so I know it’s very difficult to find fresh organic fruit and vegetables in Italy.
Frederic, if you haven’t discovered it yet and you want to buy organic fruit in Italy, the best place to go is a chain of healthfood stores called NaturaSi
They have a shop in almost all towns
Enjoy your stay! -
Madeline says:
Very helpful newsletter, thanks!
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Tiesha says:
Is it better to eat fruit whole or is making smoothies everyday just as good?
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Lauren says:
What an excellent article and realist philosophy. Very few people can eat perfectly every day, day in, day out. I’m relieved and heartened to know that it’s not “all or nothing” and that it’s not that big a deal if every single day doesn’t include greens and isn’t organic. Obviously, we make the best choices we can with what’s available to us wherever we are, but some days naturally just won’t be up to the mark as well as others.
I really needed this, Fred, and thank you for some much needed clarification, comfort and inspiration.
Your journey sounds great, and thank you for taking the time to stay in touch with all of us!
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So how did you deal with the parasite problem when you were living in Costa Rica? Have you discovered a way to make it safe to eat greens and avoid parasites in the tropics?
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Fat Fudge says:
I go to the Farmer’s Market every week and gorge on the free fruit samples. Unfortunately, I wind up with a rumbling stomach and have to go the bathroom–a lot!
