5 a day
I wouldn’t want anyone to say that Blue soup is full of useless rantings. I would also like to occasionally be a public information service. So, with the vegetable debate raging (well, not exactly raging), here is some useful (or not) stuff about vegetables.
The guidelines say:
- Fresh, frozen, chilled, canned, 100% juice and smoothies all count, as do dried fruit and vegetables
Oooh the variety. Basically veggies are boring so you have to eat them in loads of different forms to trick yourself into thinking they aren’t. - Fruit and vegetables don’t have to be eaten on their own to count. You can also include any vegetables found in soups, stews, sandwiches and other dishes
I love the use of the word “found”. As if an accident. Look, look in my soup. There’s a leek and a remote control car. - Fruit and vegetables contained in convenience foods like ready meals, pasta sauces, soups and puddings, also contribute to your 5 A DAY. However, these ready-made foods can be high in salt, sugar and fat, which should only ever be eaten in moderation, so it’s important to check the nutrition information on the labels and packaging
Even though the nutrition information on the packaging is unitelligible. I refer you now to Eddie Izzard’s sketch about overdosing on calcium (see his Definite Article DVD). - Dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals do not count towards 5 A DAY. This is because many dietary supplements don’t have the same nutritional benefits as fruit and vegetables
Oh bugger. There really is no cheating the system. - Potatoes and other related vegetables such as yams and cassava do not count. This is because they are classified as starchy foods
It is a vegetable minefield.
TOP TIPS stolen from the 5-a-day website
Vegetables
1. Everyone loves corn on the cob! (Do they?? I think sweetcorn is freaky). Buy a pack of mini ones, freeze them and cook them (Why bother to freeze them and then cook them? Why not just cook them?)
2. Peppers, mushrooms, onions or pineapple on your pizza topping count as 1 portion (YAY!!!)
3. Liven up soups and sauces with a handful of kidney beans, peas or corn
4. Ditch the crisps! Chop up sticks of celery, cucumber and sweet pepper and dip them into salsa or guacamole (guacamole which is just loaded with fat….)
5. Add some crunch to your sandwiches with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber or grated carrots (Rabbit food)
6. Stir in a handful of fresh or frozen vegetables into pasta, soup or noodles
7. Chop up lots of vegetables and use them in a stir-fry. Quick, easy and super healthy
Fruit
8. Swap chocolate for apples. They’re just as sweet and much better for your teeth (But they are green)
9. Eat a piece of fruit or a glass of juice every day for a refreshing start to the day (Refreshing? Pah, what about in winter when I don’t want to be refreshed? I want warm stodgy toast).
10. Open a tin of fruit in natural juice for an instant healthy pudding
11. Don’t throw away over ripe fruit – use it to make yourself a delicious Smoothie (Why they have capitalised the “s”, I don’t know. Sorry, it is the sub-editor in me coming out)
12. For extra sweetness, chop fruit onto your cereal or stir it into desserts
13. Wash down lunch with a glass of orange juice – a medium glass counts as 1 portion (Oh, I already do this!!)
14. Make ice-lollies by pouring fruit smoothies, 100% fruit juice or pureed fresh fruit into ice lolly moulds and freezing them
More information here. (Although it is an NHS website so probably cobblers…)
Filed under: BS is a loser, Blogging, food and drink, fruit and vegetables, get fit, good stuff, health | 7 Comments
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Apples can be red too, and yellow
So how many of my 5 a day does the double sausage and egg mcmuffin count as?
I must correct one point dear Blue. Lettuce is not rabbit food. It is a common myth that rabbits need lettuce. Yes they will eat it but it is harmful to their digestive system so should be avoided.
You’re not the only one who can provide free public information you know.
Anyway I thought that part of the point of eating 5-a-day was to provide a source of roughage. You flesh eaters do tend to get bunged up after all.
I’m pleased that my pineapple, chilli, olive and onion pizza that I ate last night followed by a sweet apple was plenty to ensure my continued survival.
I certainly go for #12 each day, and really miss it if I am away from home and don’t get this. Fruit and cereal generally go really well together, although it will depend on the type of cereal.
I have been at business meetings where there has been some fruit provided – as well as the usual stodgier fayre, but it is actually quite difficult to snack on fruit mid-meeting without a) making a mess and/or b) making an unacceptable amount of chomping noise.
But I really wonder just how many folk have a freezer full of smoothie ice lollies? Life is just a bit too short for all that carry-on, surely.
Although, perhaps the whole point is that the smoothie lolly lickers (if indeed they exist) amongst us will benefit from a longer lifetime to source lolly sticks, wee pots and re-arrange their freezer to make all that space.
They probably have the contents of their freezer catalogued. Sad really.
Oh, and occasional septic tank unblocking work I have done (countryside duties that come to many of us) precludes me from commenting on sweetcorn. That’s really too much information.
“Eat a piece of fruit or A GLASS OF JUICE every day for a refreshing start to the day…”
Yes, because the blood from my bleeding mouth and oesophagus is SO refreshing.
Sorry. Ignore my last comment. Bad mood led to a spell of uncontrollable pedantry.
I go through phases of eating lots of fruit and then not doing so. At the end of the day I am a firm believer that Cadburys Dairy Milk should be reclassified as a fruit.
I love smoothies!