to think that eating your "Five a Day" is BULLSHIT

[superv1xen]

and probably just so the government can persuade us to shell out on overpriced fruit and veg from supermarkets

the reason i think it is bullshit is because i decided after a christmas of stuffing myself with junk food and drinking most evenings a bit more than usual i was going to detox and since early january i have been making a converted effort to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. as prior to this i was lucky to manage one or 2. mainly because of the cost but also because i dont like it :o

well after my weeks of diligent healthy eating, i have not noticed ANY difference, womens mags would have you believe you will have "glowing skin" if you eat lots of fruit and veg and all sorts of other wonderful benefits.

but no. i feel and look as shit as i ever have.

or does it take longer than a month to work? :o

I must be working in the wrong places - I've never had a microwave in the places I've worked! I can eat left-over food, but it has to be cold.

I agree that taking a flask of soup is a brilliant idea, but because I commute 7 miles by bike to work, the soup in a flask adds on a lot of extra weight.

But yes, if I went to the shop every day at lunch, I could always buy fresh fruit / veg for lunch.

Not eating much fruit and veg very definitely doesn't mean that I'm eating fat or sugar, though - I genuinely think that 5 portions of fruit / veg is a lot of food to eat in a day.

No, don't say it - I should take the soup in a flask by bike, and the extra weight will make me hungry enough to eat a head of celery for a snack

Buying fruit by the piece, in sandwich shops/cafes is outrageously expensive and pisses me off no end.

Grendel, could you not just take a couple of dried apricots/carrot sticks to munch on. They won't take up much room and would help boost your intake without filling you up.

I am always confused by people who find it difficult to eat five portions of fruit and veg a day... how? what do you eat to fill you up without the fruit and veg. surely it cant all be meat/fish/chicken/eggs/milk. what is it that bulks out your diet that much?

no it is not just the roughage

what do you think your body is made of? what do you think ,makes it function?

no wonder so many people are "ill"

m.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1349960/5-day-fruit-vegetables-myth-claims-nutrition-expert.html
Very intersting article!

how did I know to google her pharmaceutical connections

just a hunch

they hae no financial interest in anyone becoming healthier simply by good God eating more healthily

We have a microwave at work but I don't always use it.

I often have salads. Even in the winter. If you can't shop frequently and can't be bothered to prepare veg for lunch, you can have a salad made from tinned veg. Eg tinned green beans, a little chopped shallot, tinned sweet corn, chunks of feta (keeps for weeks until unopened), some seeds for a nice texture.

Then there are lots of winter salads, based on lightly steamed cauli or chopped cabbage for example (although I wouldn't made one of these on a work morning, they provide variety at weekends)

I think the secret is to perfect salad dressings. Once you've found one you like, it makes most things taste nice!

Indeed Appletreees. As do Gillian McKeith and similar Quacks who make their money from useless supplements and stonage diets when a sensible healthy diet based on fruit, veg, lean meat fish grains, pulses, dairy is just as good!

Even if research shows that fruit and veg don't change the outcome for cancer patients, I am sure it would show that people who eat loads of fruit and veg are less likely to get cancer in the first place? And I speak as someone whose Mum died of cancer despite eating loads of fruit and veg/not smoking or drinking/getting plenty of exercise.

I don't think that there is any doubt at all that fruit and veg are good things to be eating. Perhaps 5 a day is a bit abitrary. Tell you what though, I can see why it's all over CBeebies. I left teaching to have DD is 2003, and have gone back to it this year. Even in those 7 years, the increase in the amount of overweight children and teens is noticeable.

Oh grats...another fake nutritionist
hits head against wall

oh yes and researcher my arse

she aint no susan jebb

i think you''ll find that nutritionists base their recommendations on the diet you describe.. how odd to consider them quacks

rather different from the ave nhs "dietician" who goes wth the old bread pasta base

as for supplements -- recemmendations of suppliements are usually for people with deficiencies

or because the modern balanced diet is nothing of the sort due to methods of production and processing

still -- your body, your kids, your choice

She isnt a degree nutritionist

she has a diploma from somewhere

Fortunately Ben Goldacre has talked to this "expert" and asked her the obvious question of where she's "studying for a PhD", to which the answer was that she what she actually means is she's thinking about doing one in the future. His conclusion is that in that case her representation of the facts is not a reliable shortcut for doing the research yourself.

Are we spotting dodgy nutritionists now? Good-o.

Eating veg is good for you.

5 a day is not a magic number

Some people find it easy, some harder.

Yesterday I had, let's see, orange juice, green beans and sugarsnap peas (but probably not a full portion of each), raw carrot sticks and celery (but probably not a full portion of both of those either).

I drank lots of water - and lots of wine.

Oh, and some olives and quite a few pickled onions.

I suppose that could be 4 then, if all the veg were 1/2 a portion each.

Appletrees, where is the proof that modern methods of farming produce less nutricious foods? Where is the proof that many people need supplements? I took folic acid when trying for a baby as it's proven (by science not quacks) to lower the risk of certain birth defects.

Still no money for quacks with their particular brand of supplements (often owned by "evil pharma" companies) by following sensible healthy eating, moderate alcohol intake, regular exercise.

gosh you're aggressive aren't yu

maybe you should watch what you eat, it can have an impact on moods

Yes some ying yang gogi berries will appease my inner karma .

I'm off to the homeopathic cranial osteopath for some magic sugar pills and laying of hands.

With them and vitamins I'll live forever

I find it strange that people don't notice much of a physical difference when they eat in different ways.

I used to do a LOT of athletics and I would be able to run faster, jump higher, and have more stamina after a week of eating a diet high in fruit/veg, lean meats and complex carbs. If I ate crap, or didn't eat enough, I'd be weak and slow.

Similarly, during pregnancy I had a phase of about 4 months when I ate an average of 10 fruits/veg portions per day, along with either oily fish (recommended amount per week) or lean meat. I felt GREAT, had energy, no breakouts etc.

It really ISN'T difficult to eat 5 a day. Some fruit and veg are expensive: I avoid them, buy locally (4 mangoes for a pound, thank you local shop man!) and just keep on top of it. Plus, if you have a mostly healthy diet, you can have cake guilt free!

Well I've done my 5 today .

Can I hit the cakes now

Well, basically our bodies are designed to eat fresh, natural foods. Although we can very effectively get rid of additives and processed stuff it means your body isn't working as efficiently as it could be. Eating lots of veg (and to a degree fruit) not only supplies your body with an easy-to-break down food, but also ensures lots of anti-oxidants, which are what help to renew cells and keep oxygen getting to skin, hence it begins to look better. You also need fibre, so eating veg is a good way of doing that, meaning that all the meat, fat etc don't hang around in your insides for too long.

I think you are being unreasonable to expect dramatic changes in a week. I eat lots more fruit and veg than I used to having read the Jason Vale juicing books and lots of people comment on how lovely my skin looks. I also feel much less sluggish if I eat veg and fruit instead of pies and biscuits, and that's because my body doesn't have to work so hard to digest them. In fact, I did a juicing diet for 5 days and felt "lighter" and so much more energetic during it. However, I think you need to eat a balanced diet, and the 5 a day rule is a good easy way to help you achieve this balance.

maybe you should look into it a little more catrin

slightly worried about your levels of ignorance there when you go round calling people quacks

you do need to know something about it when you speak with such loftiness

Overpriced? Are you having a feckin' laugh?