Nov

The 5-a-Day Habit

Five daily portions of fruit and vegetables are considered to be crucial in providing us with the essential levels of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants needed to optimise our health and have a preventative effect against serious illness.

What benefits will we get if we incorporate 5-a-day into our everyday lives? LOTS! Fruit and vegetables are full of the goodness of beneficial vitamins and minerals to optimise a healthy diet and lifestyle.

They can also have valuable side-effects, such as:

Weight loss & maintenance

Feeling brighter and more alert

Greater levels of concentration & cognitive ability

Improved energy levels

Elevated mood

Healthy hair & skin tone

Strengthened immune system

Better overall health

Quicker healing response in body tissues Reduction in unwanted skin conditions Reduction in auto-immune illness

With this list of amazing benefits, how is it that we still find it hard to attain a 5-a-day habit? What other possible way could you become more intelligent, more energetic and more attractive – without the help of surgery caffeine or plain old-fashioned witchcraft.

So now we understand why five-a-day, but it seems to be a bit of a social mystery as to exactly what constitutes a portion and what indeed counts.

Consequently it’s more than likely that this uncertainty contributes to the issue of not eating enough of what we need.

UK trading regulations now allow for products to carry a ‘trademark’ for foods that count as one of the five-a-day portions, which additionally do not have added sugar, salt or fat.

A portion is 80g of a fruit or vegetable, ideally fresh, but frozen or tinned (in water or own juice) is ok as well.

Examples of fruit portions are:

Apple: fresh 1 medium apple

Apple: puree 2 heaped tablespoons

Apricot: tinned 6 halves (in own juice NOT syrup)

Apricot: dried 3 whole

Apricot: fresh 3 apricots

Avocado Half an avocado

Banana 1 medium banana

Blackberries 1 handful (9 to 10 blackberries)

Blackcurrants 4 heaped tablespoons

Blueberries 2 handfuls (4 heaped tablespoons)

Clementines 2 clementines

Currants: dried 1 heaped tablespoon

They can also have valuable side-effects, such as:

Weight loss & maintenance
Feeling brighter and more alert
Greater levels of concentration & cognitive ability
Improved energy levels
Elevated mood
Healthy hair & skin tone
Strengthened immune system
Better overall health
Quicker healing response in body tissues
Reduction in unwanted skin conditions
Reduction in auto-immune illness

So now we understand why five-a-day, but it seems to be a bit of a social mystery as to exactly what constitutes a portion and what indeed counts.

Consequently it’s more than likely that this uncertainty contributes to the issue of not eating enough of what we need.

UK trading regulations now allow for products to carry a ‘trademark’ for foods that count as one of the five-a-day portions, which additionally do not have added sugar, salt or fat.

A portion is 80g of a fruit or vegetable, ideally fresh, but frozen or tinned (in water or own juice) is ok as well.

Examples of fruit portions are:

Apple: fresh 1 medium apple

Apple: puree 2 heaped tablespoons

Apricot: tinned 6 halves (in own juice NOT syrup)

Apricot: dried 3 whole

Apricot: fresh 3 apricots

Avocado Half an avocado

Banana 1 medium banana

Blackberries 1 handful (9 to 10 blackberries)

Blackcurrants 4 heaped tablespoons

Blueberries 2 handfuls (4 heaped tablespoons)