Your Five a Day ?

[Smurfy]

Just to add to the confusion i understand that Australia use 7 portions as a minimum with no more than 3 to be fruit.

I had an interesting discussion with a psychologist about the notion of the 5 a day/7 a day promotion and he pointed out something which i'd not really thought of before. Eationg fruit and eating vegetables are two different activities. More often than not fruit comes in it's own packaging or needs little if any preparation whereas vegetables are quite the reverse. Broad generalisations i know but it wasn't something i'd thought of before.

[glallotments]

Apparently Australasia call it the 5+ a day and in Australia it is referred to as 2 & 5 with the ideal being 2 fruits and 5 vegetables.

Incidentally they include potatoes and are less happy about dried fruit and fruit juices.

Canada have a 5-10 a day and the USA say it depends on your age, sex and amount of physical activity!

Did the psychologist give you any idea why vegetables were more valuable than fruit? As you mentioned it's far easy to get your 5 a day with fruit/fruit juices/smoothies etc?

A bowl of mixed fruit as a dessert can almost give you your 5. Well it can if you have as large a bowl of fruit as we do.

[pongeroon]

I think the most important question is whether or not wine counts as fruit? I think it does, after all, its fruit juice with extra stuff in

[Nature's Babe]

A very important question Pongeroon. Fruit is definitely easier in preparation. I have a bowl of home grown cape gooseberries in front of me now, they keep fresh in the calyx for weeks, just right for a healthy snack.

[glallotments]

I was just wondering about the schemes that divide up fruit and vegetables as the Australian scheme.

I wonder are tomatoes, courgettes, French and runner beans, cucumbers etc. and all the vegetables that are technically fruits counted as fruit or vegetables and what about rhubarb which is technically a vegetable

[Nature's Babe]

gets quite confusing Gallotments, best just make a rainbow with plenty of both.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've wondered when my parents were in hospital how they were supposed to get well on the disgusting rubbish they were offered. Most of it was just colourless, over cooked slop, although Dad was given a salad which was still frozen - the tomato was like a billiard ball and the lettuce was covered in ice crystals and turning black.

And on the five a day - being facetious - we've started counting the courgette cake as one of our five. I've adapted the recipes posted here, sometimes using wholemeal and white flour, and adding a few drops of orange oil and omitting the cinamon. It is easy to ring the changes and it makes a lovely moist cake every time.

[Nature's Babe]

I agree Plumpudding. My Mum is in and out of hospital and respite care a lot, the catering and care over meals is pretty apalling, most stuff as you say is packet convenience and frozen. What happened to the old advice -
let food be your medecine ! Usually I take a big bag of fresh fruit and tomatoes each week, to see she gets some fresh stuff and vitamins. She likes a cooked breakfast but they only offer toast or marmalade sandwich or cereal so I take in some fresh eggs in and ask if they'll cook them for her. In our local ,hospital another patient told us they weren't waking her for meals, we complained and next visit we found her asleep with the meal going cold on the bedside table. I also found her early morning pills on the locker and some on the floor at lunch time, they lost her glaucoma eyedrops and took four days to replace them ! I think standards are very poor and all patients deserve better care, they were told to improve on the last inspection, so it's not just me being overprotective.

[Smurfy]

I was just wondering about the schemes that divide up fruit and vegetables as the Australian scheme.

I wonder are tomatoes, courgettes, French and runner beans, cucumbers etc. and all the vegetables that are technically fruits counted as fruit or vegetables and what about rhubarb which is technically a vegetable

Did the psychologist give you any idea why vegetables were more valuable than fruit? As you mentioned it's far easy to get your 5 a day with fruit/fruit juices/smoothies etc?

I think it was the natural sugars that were the problem, along with the fact that many people can't eat strawberries without sugar or apples unless they're in a crumble. So i don't think they went down the toms/courgettes etc route as they don't cause the same problems.

[Marigold]

Jeepers! Eating to rules?

Mind you I can remember when still in the Uk how this was put over.

I certainly almost never eat five a day. Actually I could say never. With M.E so many food issues and fruit.. well, apart from the occasional banana, it has,,, dire results....

Vegetables are better, but even so; I eat very little and enjoy what I do eat. Few potatoes also... cake is IN! I could live on cake! And chocolate of course!!

And no, no weight issues, as I cannot put it on. Old age does have some compensations it seems.

And enjoyment is a major thing, isn't it? The best sauce, after hunger....And I do enjoy what I grow.