5 apples a day

[BroccoliSpears]

My brother, whose idea of a balanced diet is chips and dip, and who previously counted cider as one of his 5-a-day, and who once drowned some kraft cheese slices melted on Mighty White in a bowl of Bisto and called it French Onion soup... has been bombarding me with texts about his new healthy eating plan. He seems to have appointed me his nutritionist and the oracle of all things dietry. He is taking this very seriously, and he is a very logical chap - he doesn't cope with guidelines, preferring simple, black and white RULES.

Last week he was asking if it was okay to go over his 5-a-day. I assured him that he really couldn't go far wrong munching as much fruit and veg as he fancied, and that as a rough rule of thumb, veg was 'better' than fruit. Keep it colourful. Don't boil things to death. Raw is good. Now he's asking if it's okay to eat 5 apples a day.

He seems to think that the more healthy food he eats, the quicker he will start to look like Brad Pitt. Everything I say gets parred down to it's most simple, logical, shortcut. ("Right, I need to be healthy so I'll just eat 5 apples before work and that's that out of the way").

Sigh.

Oh I can't even remember why I started this thread now. I love him so very much and it's fab that he's interested in eating healthily.

Are 5 apples a day a good thing?

I would have thought it would create a bit too much stomach acid if he ate 5 every day

Probably not great for his teeth either.

I ate 3 apples yesterday but they were small and I did balance it with other things (clementines, raw carrot, blueberries, saldad, veg in pasta sauce, pear. Can you tell I am on a health kick like your bro. I think you will just have to repeat it all slowly and be patient.

Well it's certainly better than five junk items! But he should bear in mind that the 5-10 a day adage means 5 different fruit and veg, not 5 of the same thing.
Only one of those apples will count as his 5 a day (even though the other four are fine if he is using them to fill up rather than have unhealthy snacks them) due to the fact that nutritional deficiencies of certain foods will be made up for by others, thus creating the balanced diet!

So whilst it won't harm him, he could use some of those calories to eat somethings like carrots, salad, pulses, and nuts for protein.

And lol the french onion soup

PS I sometimes eat 3 apples a day too as they are very yummy. Tis not easy being an apple fiend...

"("Right, I need to be healthy so I'll just eat 5 apples before work and that's that out of the way")."

ROFL ! Sounds like DH's perpetually dieting sister. Right I've had my diet, now I'll have my dinner

I wonder if he would find it easier to follow an eating plan. Does anyone know of a good, simple, thoughtful book about nutrition? Perhaps including suggestions eg for breakfast on day 1, eat XXX and for lunch eat YYY.

He only deals in absolutes.

"Crisps, chocolate, bananas and avocados are BAD"

Well, not really bro. Bananas and avocados are actually very good for you.

"Oh, so I can eat as many avocados and bananas as I like?"

Well, they are quite high in calories, so you probably shouldn't eat too many or you'll find you put on weight.

"Ah! Calories! So they are bad!"

Calories aren't bad Bro. We need calories for fuel. You have to eat calories or you'd die.

"So I can just get my calories from chocolate and crisps then? Isn't that quicker?"

I'm no nutritionist. I'm trying my best. He's a very difficult person to explain things to.

Thank you Shrooms. Your explanation is one that will work well for him.

Lol Orm - My grandad always used to say "I wish I was on a diet" because my plate was piled high with lettuce leaves and he 'only' had a ham sandwich and some crisps.