Are too many green leaf's bad?

Question

I've fallen in love with Romain lettuce & today I've probably eaten 4 big bowls of it. OF course with my ranch dressing which I know is not exactly healthy. But it's like I can't get enough of the romain leaves & spinach & all yummy stuff. I'd take another bowl of it right now over the egg nog ice cream.
So can it be bad to eat too many greens?

Answer 1

That depends on which greens; if you were eating that much miner's lettuce (a wild herb) I'd be worried. Since it is Romaine we're talking about, probably not, but your going to be passing a lot of fiber out the other end in a few days (and that's not necessarily bad either).

What you should be asking is what is in the lettuce and the spinach that is causing the cravings? Usually constant cravings for something indicate a vitamin deficiency; whatever your body thinks has high amounts of what you are missing is what you'll start to crave.

Check here for the stats on nutrition in Romaine lettuce:

http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Romaine.html

and here for stats on the nutrition in Spinach:

http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Vegetables/Spinach.html

My guess is that you are low on Vitamin A or Vitamin C. You should get a good basic multivitamin at Trader Joe's (if you have that store where you are, or somewhere else if not). Take twice the reccomended amount per day. That way you are NOT megadosing, but you are getting what you need a little faster than you wwould at regular dose.

I'm willing to bet you that that will ease the cravings very fast, but I wouldn't discourage you from continuing to eat Romaine or spinach of course, this will just let you also have room for somwthing else to go with it!

Answer 2

You made a good choice with Romain and Spinach both are nutritious. Not a problem at all, just go light on the dressing.

Answer 3

Nice! All I would say is cut down on some of the heavy dressings, and you would be a nutritionist's dream. Its not BAD. But your body will need a variety. Even a vegetarian has to get raw protein somewhere. Say, alternate. Have small bowls of salad and have some other meat on the side. Or I could suggest getting addicted to Chicken Caeser Salad. Use Light Caeser dressing! MMMMM lol

Answer 4

I don't think it's a problem as long as you're getting enough of everything else, too. Greens won't give you everything you need. Also look at the color of the greens. The darker the greens, the more vitamins and nutrients, so iceburg lettuce would be the least nutritious.

Answer 5

No way. If you want to ward off contagious illnesses, heal quickly, feel stronger, live longer, eat as much green leafy vegs as possible. The healing power of dark leafy vegs is unrivaled.

Answer 6

Assuming you are a healthy individual, you are probably fine overdoing it on raw veggies.