Greens are bitter

[RawMagnolia]

Hello all...

I've just been working away here at eating as much raw as I can each day. But I know that for me (just beginning, and coming from processed junk food diet) that greens taste very bitter to me at this time in my life. I am eating sweet fruits during the morning and then switching over to cut up veggies and non-sweet fruits during the afternoon. And then for supper I try to have a nice green salad.

I am wondering if greens will become more appealing to me as I continue on my RAW life-walk? So, perhaps I don't need to worry so much right now about getting enough greens (I do understand fully that it would be better if I were)? But for me, I need to focus on just staying raw... ya know?

I'm just hoping that given time my range will expand, and my taste buds will become more open minded.

Any thoughts??

Thanks!
Sandra

[misslinda]

I know whatcha mean Wannberaw,

Myself, my greens have changed in flavor --the bitter of some greens are not as obvious. I can handle it alone these days. Swiss chard tend to be sweet to me and some of the other greens are on the salty side to me.

At first, I added lemon juice to break up the bitterness. A little cyaenne or spice helps.

:)

[swingbolder]

You can marinade greens in a dressing w/vinegar or lemon-juice base to soften them up, and add something sweet like agave to make them more palatable.

Also, you can put greens, even the very bitter ones into a fruit-based smoothie and you won't even taste them. YOu need a high-speed blender (like a vitamix) though to blend everything up completely. I used to make this in a cheap, Osterizer blender and while it worked okay, it left chunks of greens unblended, which defeated the purpose.

I get my greens every morning this way:

juice of 8 oranges
3 bananas
pear or some pineapple
2 handfuls of kale, collards, parsley, spinach etc.

I do agree though, that one's taste for greens does grow stronger as you continue along being raw.

They are very important to eat, as someone once told me, it's the bitter greens that make you sweet inside!

[PATH301]

WannaBRaw, misslinda.

When both of you were kids, did you like eating spinach and broccoli, collard green and such?
I alawys had a garden when I was a kid. I used to get introuble for eating out of the garden all the time. Some people it may be harder to aquire a taste for then others. So if you mix with lemons or some type of other sweeter vegetables or light dressing may help as well.

[JinxieKat]

If you can afford to do them try the baby mixed greens. I find that they are not as bitter and you get a nice variaty of stuff to try. I wouldn't recomend them for smoothies, but for your salad they are awsome. It's just cheeper to do kale or something like that for your smoothies when the fruit can mask the taste. I go to whole foods and get the baby greens in bulk, you can get alot of greens for not too much. I pay about 5 bucks for a weeks worth for me. I tend to eat a small salad a day with a large salad on Fridays instead of the small.

Jinx

[RawMagnolia]

Thanks everyone... hmmm... perhaps I have to try to have some green smoothies again (I got kinda tired of them pretty quickly... I think I was adding too many things, and too many greens, and not enough water). Just wish I had a Vitamix... but $300 US O_o

Jinxiekat, hehehe... I have been having the organic baby field greens, and even they seem too bitter. But I am glad that everyone agrees that my taste for greens should improve... until then I'll blend away.

Thanks everyone... you are always sooo helpfull!!
Sandra

[Lady Green Jeans]

Good thread. I was absolutely loving the collard rollups for the last three months. The last two weeks, they seem to just be too bitter for me. Weird because I know the health benefits of bitter greens and have traditionally enjoyed them even prior to raw. On the plus side, I've been experimenting with green smoothies--WOW great stuff! So that is how I will be getting my extra greens in until my body says otherwise.

[Tweesason]

I know what you mean about bitter. I can't eat broccoli, asparagus, or brussel sprouts because it tastes so bad to me. Here is an interesting fact about some greens. When I was in a college biology class, we had a lab one day where we put a chemical strip on our tongue. The majority of the class couldn't taste it. To me it was awful. The teacher said that few people can taste this chemical and it's found naturally in green veggies like broccoli. So even if you never get over that bitter taste, it may just be because you can taste that chemical that most people can't. I wish I knew what that chemical was called.

[Gosia]

Hi,

I came through a similar experience too, and I stopped eating bitter greens altogether. Why suffer? These days I opt only for tender, juicy greens.

Gosia.

[rawpriestess]

I only eat what I love, so I either grow my own, and pick when very young and tender, mmmmmmm

or I go to the market, and I tear off a piece of the leaf, and taste it, if it tastes good, I buy it, if not, I don't. it's that easy.

[tiger-88]

I don't guess green apples or grapes would count . :D A few nice members posted on my diet post the need for greens in my diet and I have started adding a few and will be slipping in even more to it this summer.
Tim

[Arky]

In his lecture at Joon Rhee Tae Kwondo school, David Wolfe remarked that he was travelling with a native, in some far-flung part of the tropics, and he noticed how this man frequently stopped to consume green leaves, along the way. These leaves were, of course, bitter, as most high-mineral greens are. Wolfe told his audience how it occurred to him, at that point, that one of the reasons this native man snacked so freely on green leaves was that he had not been socialised in the Western manner, to impicitly enjoy sweet rather than bitter - "nobody had told the man that greens don't taste nice". At first glance, this seems like an absurd observation, but read a little more deeply and it is actually rather profound. Wolfe is also fond of saying (ABSOLUTELY 100% correctly, IMHO) that one will never heal until one learns to appreciate, and regularly consume, bitter greens. High-mineral darky leafy greens may be bitter, but what you get in return, for tolerating this, is an extraordinary amount of nutrition that your body will thank you for over and over again.

My advice is to persevere and know that greens, more so than ANY other food type (even fruit), are the way to heal yourself, and the darker and wilder they are, the better.

Anne Wigmore healed herself primarily with weeds, not with wheatgrass and sprouts, extremely healthy and beneficial though these are, in addition to the weeds.


J.

[JMD]

Can someone enlighten me and tell me exactly which greens are considered bitter that we are talking about so I can add more of them into my weekend smoothies and daily juices? And also, which greens/veggies are considered bitter. I am supposed to add more of those too!!

Thanks in advance,
JMD

[Shivananda]

One of the most bitter, and best for you, is dandelion greens. Many of us grew up eating dandelion leaves in salads as a "spring tonic." And several juicing experts say that dandelion greens are as good as wheatgrass for detox, etc. Chicory is another. Mustard greens are another.

Personally I can't eat a lot of bitter greens so I do go the juicing route, adding some lettuce or parsley to sweeten the taste of my Dark Green Juice.

Holding your nose helps too. :)

And for those who don't like broccoli, I highly recommend broccoli sprouts. They have the same cancer fighting compounds as broccoli, but 140 times as concentrated (by weight). And their taste is much milder, like a spicy alfalfa sprout. And for less than 25 cents worth of seed you can grow more sprouts yourself, in only 4 or 5 days, than you'd get in a $5 package at the store.

[Arky]

Others include:

Stinging nettles (they don't sting you once juiced or blended and, for the brave, can even be rolled up and eaten directly, since the saliva neutralizes the formic acid sting, or so I'm told!! I stick to juicing and blending them).

Lambs Quarters

Rocquette (Arugula)

Spring Greens (Collard)

If you can find any of these wild, then so much the better as they will have the highest possible mineral profile.


J.

[Jackie1995]

Don't forget about turnip greens (in my opinion, not bitter but def. loaded with nutrients), watercress (has a snappy flavor, great in salads, smoothies, guacamole) and OMIGOSH beet greens! (mild flavor, use the stems, too, don't throw them out!!) These are terrific! Loaded with good stuff!

I just keep changing up what I eat, lots of variety, what I don't particularly care for goes into the smoothie, and I still get the benefit. I also add fruit like grapes, apples, citrus to my salads, so even the mustard greens taste great followed by a chunk of fruit.

Use your imagination, eat different stuff, you'll love yourself for it!