To shout is loud from the rooftops, potatoes do could as one of your 5 a day

[Margiemar]

In the report they decided to say they didn't purely because they thought some people would eat chips and crisps and think they are healthy.

A baked or boiled potato contains many vitamins and minerals and so is really part of your 5 a day

[catzpyjamas]

Yay

[Squidiot]

Is this a UK thing that people don't count potatoes as vegetables?

[evilcherub]

Why are people on MN obsessed with "shouting" everything?

[WeAllFloat]

Oh good! i do hate being bullshat. Nothing erodes trust like a good dose of pure bullshit for your 'own good'.

[Theycallmemellowjello]

No, NHS guidance says they don't count, no matter how they're prepared: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/5ADAY/Pages/Whatcounts.aspx

[Squidiot]

But potatoes are vegetables

[Margiemar]

Yes the NHS says that as they follow the same advice from the government report.

The NHS are useless at health stuff, they are still promoting low fat diets a d aritfical sweeteners.

[WeAllFloat]

Hang on, the nhs are basing this on the way meals are usually eaten.....as in, it's in place of bread so now it's not a veg!? But because a parsnip is not in place of a carb that slips under the net.

[GrouchyKiwi]

Watch out, cauliflower and spiralised courgette: you're next to be demoted from vegetable status.


Roast potatoes are properly healthy, right?

[Zucker]

If we all relocated to Australia, the humble potato would count as a serving.

Australia 7 a day

[DoJo]

Do you have a link to the original report?

[iPaid]

Someone is going to point out that potatoes are carbs and therefore the work of the devil! Ignore and enjoy your lovely tatties

[W00t]

Fine, but it's meant to be more like 7or 8 a day, but NHS thought people wouldn't be arsed in Britain...

[iPaid]

Well the French say 10 a day

[KittyandTeal]

Woohoo! I love potatoes in all forms. I'm proper happy I can count them too

[GrouchyKiwi]

Yy, W00t. They decided 5 was the maximum number they could reasonably encourage Brits (and Kiwis) to consume. Which points out how rubbish the whole campaign is, but I suppose a numbered target is easier to push than simply "eat loads of fruit and veg".

[LaurieMarlow]

Mumsnet's obsession with what counts as your 5 a day is one of my favourite things about it.

Thanks OP

[LaurieMarlow]

From a marketing POV, it is a great campaign. People like certainty & clear goals - 'eat loads of fruit & veg' is much too vague - wouldn't have made anything like the impact.

5 felt like a good number for the UK to aim for. And it stuck. Good job all round. Hopefully we can become a bit more ambitious in time.

I don't really give a f* whether potatoes 'count' or not. They are a nutritious food. But then I'm Irish, so I would say that.

[raisin3cookies]

I wouldn't listen to anything the NHS has to say about eating healthily, tbh.

[Margiemar]

Yes the report did say 7 a day but they decided not to push for this as its unachievable for most.

Is it uk wide? I once heard a comedian joke about Scotland and one a day and assumed this was a joke, but a Scottish guy at work spoke of having a single vegetable a day in all seriousness.

[LovelyFriend]

I guess they excluded the potatoes because some people would think their 5 a day is fulfilled by one large daily serving of chips.

Which kind of defeats the point of the 5 a day campaign.

[LovelyFriend]

the report did say 7 a day but they decided not to push for this as its unachievable for most.
So they settled on 5 as most people either were or would meet it?

It's a joke really.
Guidelines sidelines.

If you were really health conscious you would be eating more than 5 a day. 5 a day is bare minimum.

[AliceScarlett]

Potatos are carbs and therefore evil. Any evil food eaten will take the in-out calculation and throw it in the bin, along with science.

[WorktoLive]

In the US, pizza and chips appears to count as two of your five a day, by virtue of potatoes and the smear of tomato paste on the pizza (no mention of a proper vegetable topping, eg peppers and mushrooms).

link.

I suspect the industrially produced school dinner pizzas are a far cry from lovingly home made with loads of veg efforts.

[raisin3cookies]

If by the in-out calculation you are referring to the calories in-calories out mantra, then yes, throw it out. Utter claptrap.