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Portions Of Fruit And Vegetables A Day

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mikey4444 | 08:40 Tue 01st Apr 2014 | News
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26818377

Apparently only about 33% of us eat 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day, and now some researchers have suggested that we should up this to 7 a day. I work on the Welsh Health Survey and its apparent that the majority of adults in Wales barely make the 5 a day. Its always puzzled me why this figure is so low, but I suspect that many people are not counting their daily intake properly. When I point out that potatoes are vegetables, they respond by saying that they always eat plenty of them.

How many here on AB eat the required amount ?
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It's this non-empirical 'portion' that bothers me. And the fact that determining how much of whatever you should eat comes down to your own unique height and metabolism. Eat sensibly, don't sit around playing on the computer all day (oopsie!), be happy and kind. Too many carbs and too much sugar aren't good for you. It's common sense, isn't it?
mikey, as I understand it, that figure (5 a day) was pulled out of the air, much in the same way that safe alcohol levels were. The potatoes as veg thing....well yes, but according to the five a day police, no matter how many you eat it still only counts as one portion....
Personally I eat much less than five a day because my digestion won't allow it. I do, however "eat the rainbow" making sure that the fruit and veg that i do eat are as wide a variety as possible.
Well, here we go again the results of a study for the medical profession.
It has been admitted by the medical specialist that the figure of 5 a day was " pulled out of the air" and bore little importance to everyday life.

Now the " experts are telling us that it should be 7 or even 10 pieces of fruit and veg. It is my opinion that very few people could name 7 or particularly 10 pieces to start with.

In answer to your question.....I have no idea how many pieces I eat and I could not care less,
mosaic, again according to the five a day police, a portion is about a handful...of course you may well ask "whose hand?"
Some days I do, some days I don't.
Are Potatoes Parsnips Swedes and Turnips counted ,do you know ? please ! Oh-and Sweet potatoes :
Sqad // It is my opinion that very few people could name 7 or particularly 10 pieces to start with.//

Are you serious?
brionin....what a very good question, perhaps our experts will answer your question.
ummmm......I am always serious.
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Another aspect of my work on the WHS is that an alarming amount of children do not eat any fruit at all. When I was kid in the 50's and 60's if one of us 5 kids had said that he "didn't like strawberries" like my nieces and nephews do, he would have been trampled in the crush by the other 4 to get his share ! Can't really understand it, as cabbage and sprouts have their detractors but fruit is sweet and tastes nice !
I try to eat a decent amount each day, sometimes I do better with fruit and sometimes better with veg; this week I've got roasted veg cous-cous and I'm due a trip to the fruit stall at lunch time to stock up so this week should be grand. I don't succeed everyday and I don't worry about it too much either.
Some folks can't even afford two a day let alone five to seven, but they are still alive:)
well I am loving this FSA archive from 2010...its real so far as i can see and suggests adding sugar and brandy to stewed fruit...woo hoo I might take this five a day lark up after all!!
http://tna.europarchive.org/20100929190231/http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/asksam/healthydiet/fruitandvegq/
I'm surprised you think most people couldn't name 7 to 10 fruit and veg.
...also according to that website, potatoes DON'T count as part of the five a day so ner ner ner Mikey
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Can't imagine life without Apple or Rhubarb Crumble once or twice a week.....with custard of course !
mikey4444
but I suspect that many people are not counting their daily intake properly. When I point out that potatoes are vegetables, they respond by saying that they always eat plenty of them.


http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Whatcounts.aspx


Do potatoes count towards 5 A DAY?

No. Potatoes are a starchy food and a great source of energy, fibre, B vitamins and potassium.
Mikey, my observation has been that shops in poor areas do not usually have many tempting fresh fruit n veg on offer. Pennies are tight and mums will buy what they can afford, stuff that the kids won't reject, and will fill bellies, above any consideration of 'five a day'. One primary school I worked experimented with providing apples as an alternative to pudding - consternation ensued, including kids trying to flush them down the toilet. This was decades before the more recent provision of fruit and carrots for schoolkids.
do apples in the form of cider count?
Only if grapes in the form of wine do TTT.

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