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Five-a-day-again

How to curb your cravings and stay away from the ice cream!
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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby Capt_Lightning » Thu May 17, 2012 3:00 pm

Now, you will notice that I have said "I don't argue with the wisdom of eating a healthy balanced diet containing a good portion of fruit and veges", but still no body has explained satisfactorily to me, why 5? Are there minerals, vitamins etc.. that you can ONLY get from fruit & veges? What are they? Does any combination of fruit & veges provide the necessary substances?

As I said, I don't count. Actually at the minute, we're coming down with surplus vegetables, Mrs. L has started a new soft fruit bed in the garden and we've planted apple trees too. I suppose I'd better get some new toothpaste in case all this fruit rots my teeth!

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby cooksalot » Thu May 17, 2012 4:05 pm

The nhs.uk site (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Why5ADAY.aspxhas) lots of information. The reasons for five seem to be summed up in the extract below. Eating 400g of the same fruit or vegetable would not provide the balance of nutrients.

"5 A DAY is based on advice from the World Health Organization, which recommends eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
To get the most benefit out of your 5 A DAY, your five portions should include a variety of fruit and vegetables. This is because different fruits and vegetables contain different combinations of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients."

I certainly don't find it a hardship as I love most fruits and vegetables and am happy to eat even more than five a day and vary them according to season! I take your point about damage to teeth - I imagine that fruit is more likely to get caught in the teeth (especially acidic fruit like apples). I think that good dental hygiene and regular flossing is the answer, rather than giving up fruit.

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby jeral » Thu May 17, 2012 4:27 pm

On teeth, I recalled that it's not good to brush teeth immediately after food, so found this list of "Top Tips" about teeth - see the bottom of this page: http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/treatments/ ... ntal.shtml

Regarding Joanbunting's original question and the article linked, I wonder by how much the 20-25% "Do eat 5 a day" statistic would change if the question had been about 4 or 3 a day. If the survey question was "5-a-day every day", then I don't. The implication that the other 75-80% are either not listening or the message isn't getting through is probably just journalistic slant.

A lot of studies refer to food intake over a week being a better measure. My, and I notice others', appetite varies quite a lot over a month.

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby Lauren » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:32 pm

The 5 a day is considered a realistic target for *everyone* to meet on a daily basis. Not that everyone does meet it, some don't even get 2 days a week with that much!

My average intake is about 8 a day, sometimes more and sometimes less but rarely less than 5. The only reason for this is I include fruit and veg in nearly all of my meals and snacks. The government will keep banging on about it, but 5 fruit and veg a day won't cure obesity or health problems and people are grossly mis-informed on healthy eating and what is a healthy choice to make. It's the processed meals, sugars, hydrogenated and trans-fats that are the biggest problem and these products containing these nasties are often advertised as healthy food choices.

I only touch olive or coconut oil for cooking and I use full-fat butter if I need it, none of this low fat or unsaturated so-called 'healthy' oil.

Fresh cooking and wholesome ingredients are the way forward, this way you naturally get a higher intake of fruit and vegetables. A spag bol sauce can be packed with onions, tomatoes, peppers and fresh herbs. You can even blend extra vegetables into it.

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby karadekoolaid » Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:40 pm

... 5 fruit and veg a day won't cure obesity or health problems and people are grossly mis-informed on healthy eating and what is a healthy choice to make. It's the processed meals, sugars, hydrogenated and trans-fats that are the biggest problem and these products containing these nasties are often advertised as healthy food choices.

I think you've identified some of the "healthy eating" problems,Lauren, and I agree.
The 5-a-day idea is a good one, in principle- it might at least help to highlight the need for a varied diet. However, an inactive lifestyle, excessive eating and oversized portions also influence our health, not to mention the proliferation of fizzy drinks and "snacks" in bags.
I've got a healthy appetite, but even 15 years ago,when I was travelling to the US frequently,I was never able to order a salad AND a main course because there was just too much food.

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby jaybird » Sat Nov 24, 2012 2:03 am

I think the 5 a day slogan is a good idea, it at least gets people thinking about their intake of fruit & veg. As I'm veggie I usually get plenty of F&V but occasionally have days when I don't for some reason or another, but I don't worry about it.

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Re: Five-a-day-again

Postby KitchenSync » Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:05 pm

Resurrecting this if no one minds. Zealot alert!

I see five a day as a simple way of helping people think a bit more about balancing their food intake in terms of nutrients. As such I think it is largely a good and positive thing.

I do usually manage 5 - 8 a day taken on a weekly average. Two at breakfast (including one small portion of fresh juice); Lunch usually has at least two ( a handful of tomatoes with whatever; some avocado or large salad portion; I might add piece of fruit to finish but not always; Dinner will often have a good portion of onion/celery invisible in a base of chilli/risotto etc. Sometimes a nice salad before or alongside. Many simple meals have a large (half a plate) portion of steamed or oven roasted veg alongside the protein. So it is easy to clock up another 3 in dinner - without the addition of fruit.
Some one dish meals or rice/pasta based ones may be a bit 'light' but I don't obsess about that as long as over a week or so I know I am getting plenty of variety of veg and fruit.

But I do wish that the reports on this, wherever they are, make a better distinction - the emphasis really should be on more and varied vegetables.

The problem with the emphasis on 'fruit' (as a whole 'healthier eating movement) is that, whilst fruit is great - lb for lb it mostly contains more sugar/calories and fewer nutrients than most vegetables. And eating more fruit often means people are still used to 'eating between meals' rather than incorporating the scheme into two or three meals a day.

Not that people should stop eating the fruit, but just be aware of the balance.
There IS such a thing as a skinny cook!

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