Do you find it easy to eat your 5 potions of fruit and veg daily?

[CatteryCatss]

I have a yoghurt bowl for breakfast each day with at least 3 portions of fruit in (usually strawberries, raisins, raspberries and banana chips)

Then I’ll have around two portions of veg with whatever I’m having for dinner e.g. mixed salad and corn on the cob with a burger or green beans and carrots with cheesy pasta.

I think I’d really struggle if I ate my five portions individually, though!

I do. Often have porridge with fruits and nuts for breakfast. Or omelette with veg. Or I'll have some mushrooms on the side of scrambled egg.

Usually have veg soup for lunch with beans or lentils.

Often have a coleslaw salad on the side for tea and roasted veggies.

It's more in my case about a variety of veg.

I routinely eat 10+ servings per day, most of which will be veg. 1 serving of blueberries in my morning chia seed pudding, and maybe another serving of fruit during the day. But that's because I eat high protein, moderate veg and not much in the way of carbs.

I don’t eat meat so usually eat at least 10 portions of fruit and veg a day. 5 is easy for me.

I think I’d really struggle if I ate my five portions individually, though!

Don't get what you mean by this. You eat them as part of your meals. Everyone eats them as part of their meals. You're not expected to have normal 3 meals and then an additional 5 meals each consisting of an 80g portion of veg.

I have to concentrate to get 80g plus of each different thing in. I don't like sweet things for breakfast including fruit and getting five veg in over 2 meals feels like a mission especially when I’d prefer to just have cheese for dinner. Soup at lunch is probably the easiest way but has to be homemade to get 4 servings in and a banana.

It's pretty easy imo and I say that as someone who only eats one meal a day most days! I blend at least two portions into any sauce I make so that makes it easier. So an example dinner might be curry which will have mushrooms and broccoli in along with the protein, plus maybe courgette and carrot blended into the sauce, and then afterwards I'd have Greek yoghurt with berries and apple. Probably 9 different fruits and veg in all.

I find it pretty easy. Couple of pieces of fruit in the morning, salad or 2 x beg with lunch, fruit for dessert. More fruit for afternoon snack and veg with dinner. I can easily eat 8-10 per day.

Yeah I eat more than 5 most days.

I eat hardly any, my IBS means that I am limited in what I can eat,

I eat about 2 tomatoes per week, maybe 3 bananas per week, peas once and green beans and carrots once a week

I concentrate more on as many variety of fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, herbs etc through the week. Which is difficult cos it can be expensive!

Yes that's how I approach it too - as many different plant/natural sources of nutrients as possible.

I easily eat 8/9 different fruit or veg a day (berries in porridge,banana and glass of fruit juice for breakfast, soup or salad at lunch followed by a piece of fruit, then 2 vegs at dinner)but wouldn't count it as 8 portions because of the portion size. 80g seems an awful lot whenever I weight it out. But hopefully I'm getting 5 portions all in.

Yes, I’m vegan so always eat more than 5 a day.

I would have real difficulty limiting myself to 5. So far today I have eaten onion, leek, garlic, carrot, celery, navy beans, tomatoes, broccoli, kale, peppers (black, pink, white, red, green, yellow & Aleppo), 7 varieties of mushroom, spinach, cabbage, diakon radish, pak choi, turmeric, ginger, savory, thyme, basil, marjoram, lavender, parsley, oregano, tarragon, bay leaf, walnuts, grapes, 100% black chocolate, blackberries, raspberries, red and blackcurrants, swilled down with tea (black, purple, green), herbal tea (mint & chamomile) and black coffee.

I've been playing the "how many different plants can you eat in a day" game since early 2022 when I first started listening to the Zoe food science podcasts. My gut microbiome has changed to the extent that it now steers my choices and I regularly manage to eat over a hundred different plants in a week.

I've been worrying about what would happen if I had to go into hospital for a few weeks, since the food in our local hospital is beyond dire. One of the neighbours has promised to drop in every day with portion pouches of nuts, dried fruit, dark chocolate, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir and a bottle of kombucha. I wonder what would happen if I turned up with my own bedside fridge?

I find it very difficult as I have mouth issues related to lupus and Sjögren’s syndrome (I don’t produce enough saliva so can’t eat anything hard or crunchy and I can’t eat anything remotely acidic as it literally burns my already sensitive mouth). So I eat mostly very bland plain stuff like bread, cheese, pasta, etc. I can’t really eat fruit unless it’s bananas. I can’t eat salad. So it’s difficult!

A large handful of berries with my early morning cuppa
Salad or vegetables with my 11am omelet (brunch)
1-2 portions of fruit in the course of the afternoon
Lots of vegetables plus a fair bit of protein for dinner
Plus a piece of chocolate for dessert if I'm feeling naughty I feel I deserve a treat...

That's roughly 7-8 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

Very easy. I hugely exceed it daily.

Absolutely, all my meals are veg based so it's unusual for me not to hit 10. It really helps that I really like veg both raw and cooked and am a pretty confident cook. Not really that into fruit but usually have 1 piece a day (although that may be added to a soup or salad).

I find eating 5 types of fruit and veg quite easy although some days it's not the full 80g portion of each. If I make soup then it's easy to go way over but if I put a handful of blueberries in a yogurt then it's probably closer to a half portion rather than a full one.

We tend to eat a lot of meals that contain lots of veg and some carbs and protein eg veg curry with chickpeas, stir fry with some halloumi in. I find it a lot on days I have something like a piece of fish, potatoes and a veg it's more difficult

I also cut up carrots, peppers and tomatoes for a snack at work, which helps

I don't think I often get my actual full portions as you have to eat quite a lot.

at breakfast I usually have berries but it will be 15 /20 berries so only one portion max. I have an apple most days.

Lunch - if I have soup even if homemade it's normally not more than 100g of different veg per portion. If sandwich - won't be much veg.

Dinner - will always have veg but it wouldn't be 160gs

When people talk about easily eating 8 portions plus are they actually eating the proper portion size?

I tend to eat closer to 10, mostly veg. I'm low carb tho and bulk out alot of my meals with loads of low carb veg like cabbage, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower etc. Also tend to have a salad for most lunches which has 3-5 veggies in it. Breakfast is summer berries and cherries, chia seeds, Greek yoghurt
Don't snack much, sometimes a boiled egg, some dark chocolate or occasionally I go wild and have a medjool date with almond butter 😜

That’s what I’m wondering.

I probably eat 8-10 a day but I love fruit and veg!

DS is the same, could happily live off fruit and vegetables😂 dp not so much...