How do you get your 5 a day?

[newbluecurtains]

I read recently that the majority of the '5 a day' is supposed to be vegetables rather than fruit and I've realised that I don't eat that many veg!

Breakfast - not going to have veg at breakfast? Sometimes I have a green smoothie (spinach, fruit, water) could I sneak a veg in there?

Snacks - What veg is good to snack on? Cucumber sticks - fruit. Carrot sticks - carrots are apparently too startchy to count as 5 a day. Pepper sticks - peppers are fruit?

Lunch - I'll often have salad but most of my salad is either leaves or fruit - tomato, avocado, cucumber etc. What veg is good for salads? What veg is good on jacket potatoes? Does a portion of spinach count as one of your 5 a day?

Dinner is ok but unless I shove 4/5 portions of veg into dinner every day I've got to get them in elsewhere, bit ashamed to say I can't think of many ways to eat vegetables during the day aside from making soup for lunch? Best tips? Am I being stupid here?? (Yes probably)

I have to make a concerted effort to get 5 a day everyday - I’m good for a few weeks and slip back into bad habits. I’m not a big vag eater and there’s very little in a salad that I like so I tend to eat more fruit.

I’ll be glad when the autumn weather arrives as that’s when I eat more veg - lots of stews, chillis, spaghetti bolognese which I pack with veg, and lots of cauliflower and spinach dishes.

This week, fruit with wholemeal toast or porridge for breakfast

A couple of pieces of fruit for mid-morning snack - plums, apricots, satsumas

Lunch of salad or wholemeal sandwich, tomatoes, lettuce, beetroot, spring onions, radishes etc

Supper last night was peppers stuffed with sausage meat and parsley, & couscous, followed by baked apple & creme fraiche.

Tonight, seafood risotto with shallots, fennel seeds, & spinach. and some figs from the garden.

As soon as autumn comes I do lots of stews and pile in the veg.

Fruits are full of phytonutrients, just as veggies are.

One gpod trick is to roast a tray of vegetables when you have the oven on for something else and then mix into salads or omelettes or pasta. Generally when you cook one type of veg you can cook another at the same time so if you're steaming carrots for dinner you can easily add broccoli which gives you another portion very easily.

They're not part of the official 5 a day but nuts, seeds and spices are delicious, packed with nutrients and very easy to sprinkle onto other dishes, so don't forget them.

Well, I always count peppers and tomatoes as veg, and spinach well yes that's leaves but leave are veg aren't they?
I think the easiest way is to make the veg the main part of the meal, not a side. So stir fries, root veg casserole, vegetable tagine, vegetable chilli, vegetable curries etc etc, then serve bonus veg on the side!

For lunch I almost always have a salad or soup and I try to make one snack a day crudités and a vegetable based tip (salsa, guacamole, beetroot and horseradish).

Stuffed veg are also good, peppers, courgette, mushrooms.

Jacket sweet potato topped with coleslaw (really easy to make your own if you have a food processor) , ratatouille or even baked beans is a good way to up lunch time veg.

I try to spread it out - OJ at breakfast (apparently that counts), with lunch at work (half a sandwich or a wrap) I’ll have a box of raw veg (carrot sticks, cucumber slices, tomatoes, sugar snap peas), a banana or apple for a snack and then often steamed veg as part of evening meal. I really notice that I don’t feel so good if I miss it for a day

I read recently that the majority of the '5 a day' is supposed to be vegetables

why? I mean, what was the argument why fruit is not supposed to count? What authority says this?

Pumpkin, courgette, avocado, tomatoes are all fruits.

I usually have fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and at least 2 vegetables with my dinner, I don’t eat much meat so vegetables make up a big part of my meals. I probably eat too much fruit, today I have been snacking on greengages and a doughnut peach and I have been picking raspberries every day from my garden.

Thanks all lots of good ideas. All stuff I do eat it's just all slipped my mind tonight!

I usually have two portions of fruit during the day with lunch or as a snack, salad with lunch, and 2-3 portions of veg with dinner. My salad is probably half fruit too. Sometimes have dried fruit with breakfast or a glass of juice. I figure this is better than nothing even though it works out as more fruit.

Op salad is veg, so is spinach (tho better to eat it than a smoothie). So peppers, cucumber, tomato, all veg.

Agree carrots certainly count.

Otherwise, avocado at lunch, lettuce and cucumber in your sandwich, mushroom omelette for breakfast, veg curry with a jacket potato, baked sweet potato instead of regular so it counts.

I eat a lot of fruit and veg
breakfast -smoothie made of a combo of fruit and some high protein yogurt. I don’t count this in my five a day.
Lunch - salad with a combo of leaves, beetroot, spring onion, onion, tomato, sweetcorn, cucumber with a side of veg such as broccoli plus a protein.
Dinner something like fajitas or roast dinner with a tonne of veg such a whole pepper, onion, half a container of mushrooms just for myself.
Not only do I do at least 5 a day I try to get to 30 different types of fruit and veg a week (not necessarily while portions of each).

While should say whole.

I think the veg v fruit thing is just so that people don't eat sugary things like bananas, rather than peppers, carrots etc.

The focus now is on variety, aiming for 30 different plant varieties per week, which includes nuts, seeds oats etc.

Lentils count as a vegetable but I also chuck in tomatoes, onions, spinach, pumpkin.... I don't think it matters if they are fruits or leaves or whatever...

I also eat roast veggies in a pita for lunch or toss in peas or broccoli with pasta or noodles. I get my 5 a day at lunch and dinner. not breakfast.

Look up Tim Spector and his aim 30 a week (includes a lot of the foods you’re talking about), nuts and spices. I think that’s much easier to achieve

Banana as a snack, nectarine & plum after lunch as lunch was a stodgy takeaway and so I needed something fresh. Mange-tout and fennel with dinner (plus ginger and garlic)
Does wine with dinner count for grapes?
i love fruit and veg and hate being constipated so 5 a day is pretty easy for me without trying.
If my DSD is low on veg I generally add on a portion of sweetcorn or peas to her dinner. Or carrot sticks to munch on while we prep dinner.

Clearly I had too many grapes as my messsge doesn’t make sense. From banana to garlic is what I ate today.

Does wine with dinner count for grapes? yes if followed with some fruit and nut and chocolate.

I get about 8-10 a day. I have tomatoes with breakfast - technically a fruit but I count it as a veg. Then a big salad with some protein for lunch. For dinner I have a big serving of mixed veg with whatever is for dinner.

It's an effort isn't it.

I have a lot of veg soups and try and hide veg in stuff.

I do have salads a lot but have to admit it is a bit arduous

OP don't get too bogged down in what 'counts'. The only guidance is that no more than 1 of the 5 shld be potatoes, and only 1 shld be fruit juice. Anything other than that is fair game and combos are better than not getting enough, so don't worry about fruit/carrots/leaves etc.

Another nugget is that actually the evidence at the time was that 8 portions a day gave optimum results, but that was felt to be too high, based on what I don't know, so 5 a day was chosen as a sellable number to promote. So I always think of it as a minimum to aim for really.

The easiest way to do it is to look at your meal and think is this colourful ? If it isn’t then you need to add some colour.
If you make fish and chips at home then try having a few less chips, add peas, add sweetcorn and/or a side salad as well.

Today I had
B. avocado on toast (technically a fruit)
L. A tomato & an apple with a ham bun & some crisps (also 2 fruits)
D. Chicken w/ coleslaw (carrot & cabbage), salad (leaves, cucumber, tomato) potatoes & apple crumble

So I think that makes 6ish in total but only 2ish veg.depending on the portion size you're supposed to have.

Most stews have lots of veg in, & you can always add an extra side of salad or broccoli or whatever.

According to my brother, in Australia its ten, not five.
A dietician told me never to eat more than one portion of fruit at a time, does anyone know why? I wondered if it affects blood sugar or something, but a lot of people here seem to be doing it.