Peas aren't classed as a 5 a day

[bellalou1234]

Im shocked. I've been trying to eat 5 fruit and veg per day to improve my general health only to realise peas don't count!

Those of us with underactive thyroids need carbs. Ketogenic diets are not recommended for us because they inhibit the conversion of T4 into T3 (active thyroid hormone), which is undesirable for those with hypothyroidism.

I can understand why potatoes aren’t counted as one of the five a day. If they were some people would claim a packet of crisps as one of their five a day!

I remember at uni a lecturer a lecturer saying read behind the science of 5 a day..only I never did.

Well thank god this isn't true and I can go back to being smug about feeding my kids mounds of peas! It is our most used vegetable and if it doesn't count that would be a scandal!

It was 5 for a lot of nations for a long time. The information is constantly reviewed and when the diets of a nation change they update the recommendations. A few years ago it was recommended to have more portions of carbs than fruit and veg. Then they decided that we were getting enough carbs, emphasis needed to be placed on fruit and veg. 5 portions comes from a 400g daily guide from WHO. They are now pushing that to "5 - 7 portions" as people have succeeded in getting 5 portions.

Remember when it used to be 3 a day?

The biggest part of your plate should be the vegetables. Even in things like, I dont know, shepherd's pie, you've onions and carrots making up half the filling and then serve with leafy greens. Having 5 times 80g portions of vegetables over lunch and dinner is really not hard, especially when you count legumes and beans as well. Then you'd add in fruit with breakfast and maybe snack.

It's just normal food.

I'm overweight. I'm not all healthy, healthy, healthy but it isnt a lack of vegetables that's the problem. Eating portions if veg is the easy bit.

Do people not know their food groups from the food pyramid? 🙈 kids in primary school could tell me that potatoes and crisps are not in the same food group!

Can’t stand peas.

Do mushy peas count do we think?

I can’t stand mushy peas either.

Broccoli the king of veg imho.

And it's that's sort of attitude that means people find it hard to eat enough veg.

I think the current advice for a healthy gut biome is to eat as great a variety of plant foods as possible and that includes fruit, veg (including starchy), nuts, seeds and grains.

Peas are high in sugar, I know my mum has to limit how many she eats.

Was @tyrannosaurusmess deleted for expressing her dislike of carrots shepherd's pie???

Healthy eating summed up in 7 words -

Real food, not to much, mostly plants.

Easier said then done though.

Regarding potatoes, sweet potato counts but not white potatoes. I think it's the starch content. White potatoes are considered carbs as a result. But peas seriously.......my mum used to force us as kids to eat peas and Carrots. She always said if your not going to touch the other veg you must eat them. All those years of lies. I'm devastated.

Same. I’m a really picky eater and petit pois are the only vegetable I eat really. I’ll eat tomatoes if they’re a sauce, like with pasta, or sweetcorn if it’s mixed in with something. I like puréed fruit tbough, those little tubs from Clearspring.

I think if people counted boiled potatoes with skins it would lead to a lot of much healthier food choices.

Peas definitely count as be of your 5 a day.

Potatoes count as a carb, not as f&v. Sweet potatoes count as veg though. It's fruit juice and smoothies that only counts as 1 portion, no matter how much of it you have.

😂

But 'five a day' has no basis in proper research anyway. It was just plucked out of the air as a good idea - and I'm sure it IS a good idea in principle. Lots of fruit and veg, the fresher the better. But all this counting and excluding certain things is nonsense. I thought that had been debunked about a decade ago.

Sweetcorn and peas ARE part of 5 a day, it's on the NHS website

www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/5-a-day/portion-sizes/#:~:text=Tinned%20and%20frozen%20vegetables,count%20as%201%20portion%20each.