What counts as your 5 a day, how to meet it and a bit more
The recommendation from the World Health Organisation for the UK and many countries worldwide is that we should eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Have you ever stopped to look at your daily food intake or ever really thought about whether you have actually eaten your 5 a day? Do you know what it means to eat ‘5 a day’ or how you can reach the target?
A food diary (just a basic note of every single thing you eat in a day) is a great way to do this and can be very eye opening. It is worth having a go at this just to observe with hindsight but without any judgement.
Studies over a number of years have shown increased protection against diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease or death through other premature disease where fruit and vegetable intake is at 5 portions per day. The suggestion is that increasing our intake can only serve to reduce our risk of disease even further.
So what actually counts as a one portion?
One portion is 80g of fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables or 30g if you are eating dried fruits. Here are a few examples of what this would look like:
150ml 100% fruit or vegetable juice (unsweetened) (note this only counts as one portion per day no matter how much you drink)
1 medium banana
2 handfuls of blueberries
1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruits like cranberries or sultanas
A bowl of salad leaves
If I look honestly at my daily diet I know that there are days when I might not meet my 5 per day but on others I might be hitting 5 to 7 portions or more. So if you find yourself struggling to hit your 5 a day target you might find the tips below useful:
Incorporate vegetables and fruits into your diet in a way that you don’t even notice, blended fruit & vegetables in smoothies or juices or grated into porridge and soups.
Replace snacks with fruit or vegetable batons like carrots or celery sticks with a couple of teaspoons of hummus.
Omelettes, Casseroles, Curries and Stir Fries can are a great way to use up leftover vegetables and you can combine so many in each meal, to be used as breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Eat soup.
Add a large grilled tomato, mushrooms or wilted spinach to your eggs at breakfast.
Try putting these into practice daily and keep a food intake diary so you can look back and see if you’re hitting targets and how that’s feeling for you. If you would like a consultation and dietary analysis with a report on your food diary you can get in touch at info@vitaflow.co.uk.