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From:	Rocket Scientist (proxy1d.external.lmco.com)
Subject:	Re: How do you eat so much fruit and veggies?
Date:	January 16, 2006 at 7:12 am PST

In Reply to: How do you eat so much fruit and veggies? posted by fanny on January 14, 2006 at 10:13 am:

I am actually still struggling with this. I have fruit smoothies for breakfast every day and that's great, and I'm getting to where I can handle steamed and cooked veggies okay. But I just do NOT like raw vegetables at all. Seriously, I'd rather eat nearly anything else.

But I also have gotten to where I can make peace with them. Sort of. My doctor (a naturopath) made it pretty clear that he wants me eating a LOT of vegetables, particularly raw. He is a big fan of Joel Fuhrman, who proposes a pound of raw and a pound of cooked every single day, among other things (and I don't come anywhere near that, though I've gotten better). But I just cannot face the raw salad thing without a really good-tasting dressing to take away the taste of the salad. And that's where I have struggled. Pretty much every commercial dressing out there is either loaded with vinegar (which I can't stand and which, for a long time, was off limits for me anyway - and no, I could not do lemon juice either) and/or oil. There are precious few options without at least one of those. I finally discovered Nasoya brand, which is made with tofu. It still has more fat than I'm supposed to have, but it's mostly from tofu, so at least it's naturally occurring. And then, just last week, I made a "Mostarella Sauce" from a cookbook by Jo Stepaniak. I used it as a dressing - had to use more, but it is still less fat than the Nasoya, and all the fat is from raw cashews and sesame seeds (which is ok with Fuhrman). I wish I'd found it a lot sooner. It's also very good on steamed vegetables. If you can stomach vinegar, you will have much better luck than I had.

A note - as you can see, I did compromise on the fat issue. After explaining the situation to my ND, we agreed that I'm better off eating salads with a dressing containing fat than to not eat them at all, which was the other option, given my strong dislike. But your situation may be different from mine (and I hope it is, and you'll have an easier time!).

I really don't think I'll ever just love raw vegetables, but I'm getting to where I can deal with salad and the thought does not always make me gag. However, if I get some place where I cannot get a decent salad dressing or at least some avocado to go on it, I would rather go hungry.

I suggest you make it a priority to just hunt for various ways to eat vegetables, and different sauces and flavorings to go with them. Just keep looking in every recipe book, on line, at the store, at restaurants to get ideas, and also, experiment! Try every new vegetable you can get your hands on. Did you know Brussels sprouts are great in a stir-fry? Yes, they really are, and very filling! I just figured that one out a few weeks ago as an experiment. I think if you refuse to take "No" for an answer, that is when you start making the wonderful discoveries about things you like. That's basically what I did.

RS

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