5 a day

Reading article "5 a day" - Reply to this / 8 comment(s)
The NHS guide to eating '5 a day', which isn't all that much in terms of fruit and veg. Other countires encourage people to eat up to 9 portions a day.

http://www.5aday.nhs.uk/ 

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1. The US suggests 9 a day by Bettina, 931 days ago

   but the recommended servings are around a half-cup, so it's really not that much.

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   1. Re: The US suggests 9 a day by suttree, 931 days ago

      I guess a lot of it is in relation to what kind of diet you already have - a person who eats solely junk food is going to see massive benefits from even the slightest intake of veg.

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2. Start slow? by jhoffman, 931 days ago

   Well - 9 a day would probably be a bit of daunting stretch to our obese nation with its kids who barely recognise most vegetables beyond the potato, apparently.
   
   5-a-day has become a bit of a buzzword sorta thing, haven't you noticed? Pretty much everything is advertising itself as "one of your 5-a-day" if it can.

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3. Labelling by jane, 931 days ago

   I think that more manufacturers should indicate how many portions are in a meal. Many people think that because a ready meal has 4 different veg in it there are 4 portions, but more often than not you find there are only 1 or 2 portions. If they can indicate what a portion size is on fresh fruit and veg, I think they should do so on everything - most manufacturers put other nutritional information on packaging and a lot of that isn't compulsory, so why not the portions of veg?
   
   Oh, and the other one - you can't drink all five / nine portions as there isn't the fibre in standard fresh juice, only in smoothies etc ,and even then I doubt you can drink all five portions.

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   1. Re: Labelling by jhoffman, 930 days ago

      This is very true - it's not easy to tell how much "a portion" is, especially when some fruit and vegetables have more or less vitamins etc. in them so the portions are then smaller/bigger respectively.
      
      Am I right in thinking that, when it comes to 5-a-day, the potato doesn't actually count as a vegetable?

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      1. Re: Re: Labelling by jane, 930 days ago

         Correct, a potato is not a veg in this sense, yet over half of the nation think it is (according to some surveys I've seen)

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         1. Re: Re: Re: Labelling by jhoffman, 929 days ago

            Why is that? Is it because it's mostly starch and carbohydrate without a large amount of health benefit (vegetable-wise)
            
            Have you seen those surveys about children not recognising vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower etc.? It seems so hard to believe

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            1. Re: Re: Re: Re: Labelling by jane, 929 days ago

               I'm not sure why potatoes don't count, certainly when they are baked, but I think it is something to do with the amount of fibre in them.
               
               A lot of kids don't know what veg looks like because they only eat them in ready meals - everything comes out of a packet of some sort. If they're really lucky it comes out of a bag of frozen veg (admittedly, this can often be more healthy than fresh veg as the vitamins as maintained through freezing) but as it's all preprepared they don't see the complete veg.

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