Why Eat 5 a Day

 

Around 33,000 lives a year could be saved if everyone in the UK followed dietary guidelines, research suggests.

Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day has the biggest effect, say experts at Oxford University.

Only a third of Britons consume enough fruit and veg, with the worst results in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The UK daily guidelines are to eat five portions of fruit and veg, no more than 6g of salt, and keep saturated fat to 10% of total energy intake.

The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, was based on a computer model linking food consumption with mortality from heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Public health experts at the University of Oxford used it to analyse data for 2005 to 2007 from a variety of studies in the UK looking at links between diet and deaths.

They used the model to predict how levels of heart disease, stroke and cancer would fall if everyone followed recommended dietary advice.

• Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day would save 15,000 lives, including 7,000 from heart disease, almost 5,000 from cancer and around 3,000 from stroke
• Another 4,000 deaths would be prevented by sticking to dietary recommendations on fibre; around 7,000 from watching fat intake and 7,500 by reducing salt

So why is it so difficult to eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day? Do people know what a portion is? Is it cost?

We need to educate people on healthy food and a good balanced diet! We need to show people that feeding poor nutrtitonal food to our children will cause long term problems for them and society.

Getting your 5 A DAY is easy. There are plenty of ways to add more fruit and vegetables to your everyday eating habits.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• At breakfast, add fruit to cereal, porridge or lower-fat yoghurt. Try a handful of berries or a chopped banana. Add mushrooms or tomatoes to scrambled eggs.
• Frozen fruit and veg count towards your 5 A DAY. It only takes a couple of minutes to microwave some frozen peas, mixed vegetables or mini corn on the cob.
• Canned fruit and veg count too. It’s healthier to choose fruit canned in juice rather than sugary syrup, and veg canned in water without added salt or sugar.
• It’s easy to add fresh, frozen or canned fruit and veg to meals. Sprinkle sweetcorn or pineapple chunks on top of a thin-based pizza, or liven up soups and sauces with a handful of kidney beans, peas or sweetcorn.
• Add fruit and veg to your favourite meals. Try adding chopped carrots to bolognese sauce, sprinkle chopped red peppers on your pasta, or mix veg such as peas into mashed potato to make it even tastier. Add tomatoes to your omelette or mushrooms to your next stir-fry.
• Add some crunch to your sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber or grated carrots.
• Sticks of cucumber, peppers and carrot, and cauliflower or broccoli florets are delicious with dips such as salsa or lower-fat cheese spread.
• Swap sugary snacks, such as biscuits, for a piece of fruit. 
• Add beans, lentils and pulses to stews, bakes and salads. However much you eat, beans and pulses count as a maximum of one portion a day.
• Have a salad or vegetable side dish with your main meal. If you’re having shepherd's pie, have some peas too. If you’re having a roast dinner, add some carrots or broccoli to your plate.
• One glass (150ml) of unsweetened 100% fruit juice counts towards your 5 A DAY. Fruit or vegetable juice counts as a maximum of one portion a day.
• Make a quick smoothie in a blender using your favourite fresh or frozen fruits. A smoothie containing all of the edible pulped fruit or vegetable can count as up to two portions a day, depending on how it's made.