Five a Day

It can be hard to try and fit the recommended five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables into your diet everyday. In fact it can sometimes seem impossible. You try so hard. No time for breakfast so you grab a slice of toast as you go out the door. Lunch if you are lucky enough to find time to go out a get something healthy is probably a pre-packed salad and a piece of fruit. Dinner is probably pasta (quick and easy) with another bowl of salad. Add up your portions of healthy food and you are well short of your five a day. The salad if it is quite a large bowl counts as one portion. You need a large piece of fruit to qualify for another portion, and you just might scrape a portion together from the pasta if you add a tomato and a few vegetables to it.

It has been researched by scientists that the average person only gets two and a half portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This means you are not getting enough fiber, vitamins or minerals. This in turn can affect your health as your skin and hair may not be as fresh and radiant as it could be. Also it may also affect your health in an invisible way. For example it may affect your cholesterol level. A lot of people also struggle to understand what an actual portion is.

The five a day is based on the World Health Organization’s recommendation after their studies found that people who ate a lot of different fruit and vegetables tended to have better health. Not just in general health as in coughs and colds, but with more serious health issues such as cancer and heart attacks. The WHO worked out that to maintain a health life we should consume at least 400g of fruit and vegetables everyday. This divides into five portions of 80g a day.

Research has found that once people recognized what a portion actually was, they found it easier to reach their target of five a day.

So what is one portion?

• A 150ml glass of juice is classed as one portion. If you drink any more than this it is unfortunately still classed as only one portion.
• An 80g helping of beans or pulses. Again eating more than this is still only one portion as they are rich in fiber, rather than vitamins.
• An 80g portion of vegetables whether they be frozen, fresh or canned all count. One portion is about 3 heaped tablespoons
• An 80g portion of fruit. Again frozen, fresh, canned or dried. One portion is about a handful.
• An 80g portion of salad. One portion is the size of a cereal or dessert bowl

Here are just a few things that people often ask about.

Is fresh better than frozen? No as frozen vegetables are usually frozen as soon as they are picked. Whereas fresh fruit and vegetables loose nutrients during transportation and while they are on the shelf.

Why can’t potatoes be counted as a portion? Potatoes although classed as vegetables are mostly starch so are under a different classification.

So there you go! The easy way to be a five a day.