Obviously salad (spring mix, for example) is great and you should eat a lot, but am I going to see the same amount of nutritional benefit from:
One pound of salad eaten in one sitting,
One pound of salad divided into two half pound servings and eaten at two different sittings in one day,
One pound of salad divided into two half pound servings, one of which you eat today, and the other you eat tomorrow,
Etc.
Hi there Elk,
Humans are batch feeders, we have comparatively small stomachs, and we have been optimized to eat high water, high nutrient, high fiber, low calorie foods throughout the day. We do however have long winding, high area digestive tract for maximum absorption, and gut flora interaction.
The modern idea of eating 3 high calorie meals a day was to optimize our work output in the workforce. For some reason humans feel guilty for feeling hungry, I don’t understand it, hunger tells us if we are well hydrated, and if we need more nutrients.
To answer your question.
I do not think salads act like high protein meals. Where you can only eat a certain amount before your body starts to delaminate proteins creating kidney and liver damaging urine.it helps that the nutrients will be water soluble, no big deal. I could be wrong, so if any other fellow redditor thinks that is wrong, please correct me.
You have the right idea though, 1lbs of salad is only 150kcals or so, but it will provide so much antioxidants, chlorophyl, and phytonutrients. well done for valuing the food of life.
That said, I do not see how someone will be able to eat a pound of salad in one sitting. I hate cold snappy crunchy textures and that would make me sad like uncle roger says.
I could however see someone have 100g of salad in a smoothie for breakfast. Another 100g in a roll, sammich, burrito, or quesadilla.200g cooked into a pasta, or rice dish.
I would deffo break it up and eat the salad alongside other high energy foods to make the experience more pleasant, and to optimize absorption.
I wish you all the best, stay safe.
this question is very complex by nature because it would depend on your activity but mostly because all the complex systems mechanisms that are at work in the body.
it really depends on your goals.. building muscle, losing weight, longevity, etc..
much that is unknown in this sector however in terms of longevity, it is well agreed by experts that the more often you eat the sooner you will die
as for the bioavailability and use of nutrients this is also very complicated, there are lots of processes different things that happen to your body when you forgo calories and fast for long periods as opposed to wanting every couple hours like a body builder.
eating the salad with a good mix of proteins carbs and fats will increase the bioavailability of the nutrients in each food. so this is a great way to make the most of out the salad.
i think one serving is good, like whatever you can eat in a sitting where youre satisfied ya know. the 3rd option you gave would be what i think is the most beneficial. i dont think there would be a reason to have more than one big ass salad a day.
the consensus for chimps in a medical study was that the chimps that had a restrictive feeding window, vs chimps that were fed multiple meals a day- same food and calories etc
and the fasted chimps survived 20percent longer. also the case with rats.
i would check out david sinclair and andrew huberman. one is a professor at harvard, the other at princeton or colombia idk cant remember, but a highly acredited institution
I think the argument here would be that your body will need calories and nutrition throughout the day, and not for the day; and also with what are you going to replace the salad in the other meals; and also that if you don’t replace it with anything at all, it will leave you more hungry at that time of day.
But on the nutritional absorption point of view, meaning if some fibers, minerals, and vitamins will go to waste, I don’t know if it makes a difference. Maybe too much fiber will lead your digestive system to vacate too quickly and not allow nutritional absorption in your intestines?