It is now common knowledge that Governments worldwide are advocating that you should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to keep healthy.
At this site we would add: to provide protection against degenerative diseases and to extend your lifespan. Fruit and vegetables are two of the main sources of antioxidants in the diet. Other important sources are nuts and grains which do not feature in the popular advocacy to improve the quality of our lives, but you can add them after reading provisos discussed in this article.

Are you getting your 5-a-day?

Introduction

Can it be all fruit or all vegetables? No sorry, you should have 3 fruit and 2 vegetables, or is it the other way round? Does a pea count as one veg? No, now you are being silly. Well, how many peas count as one vegetable portion, then? And why is it 5-a-day? It all started with the World Health Organisation (WHO) deciding that most of us were not eating enough fruit and vegetables to maintain a healthy mind and body. However, some populations were considered to be very good, such as in the Mediterranean countries, but others, in Scotland for example, were a long way short of the target.

What do we get from fruit and vegetables?

Well, the reasons for eating fruit and vegetables are usually given as, providing:

Vitamins

Minerals

Fibre

Antioxidants

What are the health benefits?

Their presence in the diet is said to help:

To reduce oxidative stress and protect us from degenerative diseases, e.g. coronary heart disease

Reduce the risk of obesity

Keep the system regular

Make food more interesting and enjoyable.

Therefore, how much should we eat?

An expert committee compromised on a target consumption of 400 g of fruit and vegetables per day when in reality they wanted us to eat much more. They decided a reasonable portion size was 80 g, making 5 the number of portions required per day. So, most informed sources report the adage as “at least” 5 portions per day, inferring that more would have been preferred. But, when you realise that most of us do not eat anything like five portions a day, there is more missionary work to do. So, let’s deal with the practicalities first.

What does an 80 g portion size translate into?

Fresh fruit:

Small-sized fruit:

2 or more, for example 2 plums, 2 satsumas, 3 apricots, 2 kiwi fruit, 7 strawberries, 14 cherries, 6 lychees

Medium-sized fruit:

1 medium fruit, such as 1 apple, banana, pear, orange, nectarine, or 1 sharon fruit

Large fruits:

half a grapefruit, 1 slice of papaya, 1 slice of melon (2-inch slice), 1 large slice of pineapple, 2 slices of mango (2-inch slices)

Dried fruit:

1 tablespoon of raisins, currants, sultanas, 1 tablespoon of mixed fruit, 2 figs, 3 prunes, 1 handful of banana chips

Tinned fruit:

Roughly the same quantity of fruit that you would eat as a fresh portion: 2 pear or peach halves, 6 apricot halves, 8 segments of tinned grapefruit

Juices:

A glass (150ml) of 100% juice (fruit or vegetable juice or smoothie) counts as 1 portion, but you can only count juice as 1 portion per day, however much you drink. This is mainly because it contains very little fibre. Also, the juicing process 'squashes' all the natural sugars out of the cells that normally contain them, which can be harmful for teeth - especially if you drink a lot of it in between meals

Green vegetables:

2 broccoli spears, 8 cauliflower florets, 4 heaped tablespoons of kale, spring greens or green beans

Cooked vegetables:

3 heaped tablespoons of cooked vegetables such as carrots, peas or sweet corn

Salad vegetables:

3 sticks of celery, 2 inch piece of cucumber, 1 medium tomato, 7 cherry tomatoes

Tinned and frozen vegetables:

Roughly the same quantity as you would eat as a fresh portion. For example, 3 heaped tablespoons of tinned or frozen carrots, peas or sweet corn

Pulses and beans:

3 heaped tablespoons of baked beans, haricot beans, kidney beans, cannelloni beans, butter beans or chickpeas. Remember that beans and pulses do count, but only as 1 of the 5 portions, no matter how much you eat.

Are there any anomalies?

There is an overlap between the five-a-day fruit and vegetable foods and the plant-derived energy foods. Obviously, there is no confusion about animal fats (meat and dairy produce), and proteins (meat and fish), but the major carbohydrate energy sources such as the starchy foods, potatoes, pasta, rice and bread are not included in the 5-a-day foods. Why no mention of nuts? If antioxidants are what you require then nuts are better than fruits which are better than vegetables, as a general rule. However, all the nuts have a high fat content, albeit largely unsaturated fat, which is held against them. One portion of walnuts (80 g) will contain 52 g total fat (RDA = 65 g) of which only 5 g is saturated (RDA = 20 g), and 37 g is unsaturated (RDA = 45 g).

The Mediterranean Diet

The five-a-day recommendation is very good advice, but if you are looking for a healthy, total diet then the Mediterranean way of life supports one. It is about cooking with olive oil, and taking time over it, starting with locally sourced fresh ingredients. It is about unrushed meals with a moderate amount of wine, freshly baked bread, locally caught oily fish, and plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables – oh, and sunshine. We just don’t get it.

Conclusion

So, short of going to live on a Greek island, what can be done to improve our prospects of living a long and healthy life? Start by including a sensible quantity of fruit and vegetables in your diet? In general, it would be wise to err on the high side of the Government recommendations. In particular, for those who are overweight, feeling run down, under heavier than normal stress, not getting regular exercise, snacking on junk food, then go for the target set by the US National Cancer Institute, of 9 portions for men, 7 for women and 5 for children. It makes good sense to take body mass into account, and it makes even better sense to ensure that the portions are organic!

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