Do you eat five portions of fruit/veg a day?

No problem. I have had 3 at breakfast.

What did you have with the Hummus? I find prepping in advance makes me more prone to eat more to be honest, so I sometimes prep a load of veg sticks in advance and put them in a tupperware in the fridge. It makes me less likely to grab a twix and get some veg sticks instead.

I aim for 30 different plants a week (includes more than just fruit and veg - seeds, nuts, pulses etc) and usually manage quite a lot more.

I have a bowl of mixed fruit per day.. melon/ pineapple/strawberries/raspberries/ grapes.. usually.
Then include a veg or some salad with my tea.
I think l do okay.

I do and it became a lot easier when I cut down the amount of meat and processed food I was eating. I’m not convinced that DH ever does.

Seems to me that F+V provide fibre, Vit C and traces of other minerals. Easier to get that from a Vit C tablet and flax/chia seed on porridge or yogurt.

But some like to eat F+V too. Not me as I can't stand veg, but do eat fruit at breakfast only. That's it, and I'm fine so far at 68 with no deficiencies.

Buying F+V is very expensive now also.

As you can see I don't follow rules made by someone who thinks they are right all the time. These rule makers should also indicate alternatives to the nutritional values in F+V for those who won't, don't or cannot eat them!

I think that it feels natural when it's related to quantity consumed. Similar to "I'm doing 3 pills a night" or "I'm doing a bag of coke a week"

Trying to keep up, and looking for ideas.

Today I have eaten some hummus - chickpeas - do they count? Tonight I'll have a pasta and tomato Sause, so onions and tinned tomato. Oh and some grapes for pudding. 4. That's rubbish isn't it. Maybe I will make a side salad.

Not always but then on here you see the Competition Level 5 a Day eaters where some inhale 4 punnets of soft fruit and an acre of Chard just for a snack. Today for instance I've had a banana, some salad at lunchtime and will have 2 veg with tea later
. I may squeeze in a handful of strawberries for pudding but might not.

Not even close. Combination of being a very fussy eater, and a lazy cook.

I have one of those illnesses you mention and as stated below I have 20+ fruit and veg a day.

Happy to reconsider if you point me to some
scientific research.

Just to say this wouldn’t count as 5, as it’s 5 different types of fruit and veg. It’s all about variety. Ultimately the ideal is that we’d eat 7-12 portions but because the average consumption is well below this, ‘a minimum of 5 portions’ is the advice for the public because it’s achievable. Also, it’s recommended eating more veg than fruit due to the natural sugar content in fruit. I used to have snacks at work my colleagues called my rabbit food, with tomatoes, grapes, sugarsnaps (raw), carrot and celery but I’d then change it up. Variety is key :-)

Why do people use the word “doing” for food these days instead of “eating”? I’ve noticed this a lot on Facebook too, and it seems very strange to me.

No too expensive

Yes and it's the single biggest thing that makes a difference to my physical well-being. During weeks/months where I manage to eat at least 5 every single day, I have virtually zero headaches, body aches, tiredness and it improves hormonal and MH symptoms as well. During phases where I don't eat enough fresh fruit & veg, I sometimes need painkillers every day just to get through the basic tasks.

It's a pain though because your entire day is spent planning meals around healthy ingredients, food shopping and meal preparation. Fresh convenience foods are ok but very pricey in the long run.

Unpopular opinion but I believe a lot of people who are chronically ill with non-specified symptoms (long covid, POTS, fibromyalgia, MCAS, chronic fatigue, IBS, SIBO) may have terrible diets that exacerbate the symptoms and eventually lead to a situation where they cannot stomach fresh fruit & veg which only makes the cycle worse.

@Hoolahoophop - yes different every day.Never banana (not keen) or citrus (irritant).

Most days easily

even as a child way way back I think we would nav have 5 a day - 3 veg ( carrot cabbage and peas) and an apple and orange in the winter , seasonal fruit in the summer , oh and bananas. Different veg on a Sunday - turnips

there are 2 different sets of complimentary advise

5 to 8 portions of around 80g per portion per day spread across different food groups ( so only one type of bean for example and don’t count potatoes )

and 30 different plant types on a week / this is less fussy on the quantity and food grouping so a small chunk of garlic , butter beans and pintos and potatoes would all count separately

Some people seem confused about a portion. 80g of fresh/tinned/frozen fruit or veg is a portion, as is 30g of dried fruit, or a glass of fruit juice or smoothie. However much fruit or veg you use in smoothies it only counts as a single portion. Same with beans and lentils, they only count as a single portion however much you eat. Potatoes don't count, nor do grains. So in other words you need to eat 400g of solid vegetables and fruit made up of at least five different fruits or veg to get your '5 a day'.

There's another thing which is to aim for 30 types of vegetable and grains eaten across the week. This is less concerned with serving size and is about keeping you healthy by eating a wide variety of foods.

No, I’ll eat fruit with breakfast but not huge amounts.
I cook mostly veggie food, so evening meal is much better.

I have around 20+ a day. It's quite easy to increase your number by throwing in fresh herbs and pulses into your cooking. Also add nuts, seeds and fruit to desserts.

I’d say easily 5 portions of veg but I rarely eat much fruit. Find it very sugary and often not juicy and ripe enough!! Also I seem to not have to eat much of it before it travels very quickly through me 💩 (sorry!)

I easily have more than 5 different types of fruit and veg every day but rarely 5 80g portions so I need to try harder.

Yep - I have the same salad for lunch daily which has (amongst other stuff):
Chickpeas (half a tin)
Half of a big cucumber
handful of cherry tomatoes
half a red onion
sliced black olives

So 3.5/4 portions just at lunch. I generally have an apple mid afternoon and then another 2 portions of veg with dinner.

Yes I’m aware smoothie = 1, beans and lentils = 1
We don’t eat meat or fish so it’s all about the veggies