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Healthy Eating |
How Much Fruit And Veg Should I Eat Each Day? |
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The government, supermarkets and a multitude of experts battle on to tell us about "5 a day".
But what does it all really mean?
And should we take any notice?
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Why Bother Eating Fruit And Vegetables?
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Eating a healthy diet and taking moderate exercise helps keep us fit and well. There's been plenty of research that shows a diet lacking in nutrients can increase the likelihood of us getting diseases.
A healthy diet means a varied diet - one that's not too dependent on any one food or food group.
But many of us eat too many starchy foods, such as potatoes, pasta, bread or white rice, and meat.
Without the vitamins and minerals in fruit and veg, we're more likely to get ill.
Whilst these can form an important part of your diet, we also need essential vitamins, minerals and proteins which are found in fruit and vegetables.
Without these, our diet is out of balance and problems from catching frequent colds, to gum disease, skin problems and even serious illness can follow.
But I take vitamin tablets. Aren't they enough?
Whilst vitamin tablets can be useful to top up if we're missing a few nutrients, they're not absorbed by the body in the same way as "real" food, so they can't replace fruit and vegetables. |
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Why 5 A Day?
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About one third of the food we eat should be fresh fruit and vegetables.
Eating 5 portions of different fruit and veg a day is an easy way of checking whether you're meeting your targets.
But bear in mind, many health research institutes are now recommending eating up to 9 portions of fruit and veg each day, to stay healthy! So 5 really should be a minimum daily quantity.
It's usually better to aim for more vegetables than fruit. This is because fruit is higher in (natural) sugars and carbohydrates than most vegetables. So if you're watching your weight, try to make sure you're only having a couple of portions of fruit a day.
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What's A "Portion" ?
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Unfortunately, two wafer-thin slices of tomato in your lunchtime sandwich don't count as a "portion"...
Here are some ideas of what can count as a portion:
2 medium tomatoes
3 tablespoons carrots
1 onion
6-10 mushrooms
3 heaped tablespoons of broccoli or cauliflower
1 dessert bowl of salad
1/2 avocado
3 tablespoons cabbage
a 2 inch piece of cucumber
1 leek
5 fresh asparagus spears
1 apple
1 large pear
1 large slice of melon
small handful of dried raisins, apricots or sultanas
1 banana
150ml glass of pure fruit juice or a fruit smoothie
1 peach
Note: potatoes and other very starchy vegetables don't count as a portion, because they contain so much carbohydrate. Sorry!
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Fresh? Frozen? Canned?
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If possible, get your fruit and vegetables as fresh as possible. They lose their nutrients after picking so if they've been in storage for weeks or travelled thousands of miles, they're less beneficial than if they've come from a local farmer - or even your own back garden.
Second choice would be frozen. Most nutrients are preserved with freezing, so this is a good fallback option.
If possible, avoid canned fruit and veg, because it has to be heavily processed, to prevent it going off, which can reduce their nutritional value. They are often canned with sugar and salt solutions, which aren't a good idea, either.
The only exception is tinned tomatoes. The lycopene ("superfood ingredient") in tomatoes is more readily absorbed by the body when they are cooked, so tinned tomatoes are ok. Just watch out for added salt and sugar...
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How Can I Make It Easy To Increase My Portions?
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Bear in mind that "5 a day" would mean just two vegetables with each meal plus a fruit or vegetable snack or a glass of pure fruit juice.
When you break it down like that, it's really not so bad.
If you're dealing with kids who are fussy about their veggies, there are plenty of ways you can disguise them.
- Try grating a peeled apple into breakfast porridge, with a handful of raisins.
- Puree some dried apricots (sulphur dioxide free) with a pear and add to natural yoghurt for a delicious, quick, sweet pudding.
- Make a vegetable sauce for pasta - it can easily include tomatoes, courgettes, onions, mushrooms, kale, cauliflower... Your imagination is the limit! For really unsure customers, puree it first, so they can't spot the veggies. Try our recipe for Autumn Secret Vegetable Pasta.
- Eat a banana instead of a bar of chocolate, if you feel the cravings coming on.
- Make delicious soups. They're great for using vegetables and taste delicious. Soups are useful because you cook the vegetables in the stock you eat with the soup, so no vitamins are wasted.
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Want More Inspiration?
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| Check out these tried-and-tested recipes to help you increase your fruit and veg intake. |
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| Check out our free seasonal food guide. |
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