If you don't eat 'five-a-day' - why not?

[whippet]

I'm doing a bit of work at the moment in public health and understanding the barriers to uptake of fruit & veg.

I have my own research & theories, but I'd be interested in views and perspectives.

The reality is that we should actually eat closer to nine-a-day, but the five-a-day message was felt to be more achieveable.
Also people in the UK tend to eat more fruit than veg, which can also cause some problems (fruit sugar, teeth etc)

I think most people would now know about the benefits of fruit & veg?
So, if you're not getting 5 a day, what are your reasons?

Oh and another thing.

If I do a weekly shop we only tend to have fruit in 4 days out of 7 as is eaten/spoilt by the 5th day.

Most weeks I try and get fresh fruit/veg on day 4 but it doesn't always happen.

We don't because there are only a few things DH and I both like (like small children really).

e.g. I like avocados melon broccoli cabbage blah blah and would eat them all the time.

He hates these and likes things I don't which of course I don't buy.

I don't buy things I know he doesn't like as this seems somehow selfish.

So the fruit and veg we concur on is, erm, satsumas and carrots.

I can't be bothered to prepare stuff which only one of us is going to eat so we get satsumas and carrots.

OK it isn't quite as bad as that but you get my drift. I am sure this is part of the reason in many families.

Oh yes and probably because what I really want to eat is steak and chips. With maybe some mushrooms fried in butter at a push! (Not for DH though he won't eat mushrooms, sob). We're both very carniverous and veggies are always an extra rather than a main part of a meal. Not good I know but that's another thing which limits our intake.

DH and I have different tastes but I couldn't approach it the way you do Chukkypig.

Our tastes overlap more than yours do but I don't see why either of us should not have something just because the other doesn't enjoy it. Especially when some of the things you cite don't require much preparation.

Plus I think it is good for children to be exposed to lots of different food and to see at least one parent tucking into it.

Even for food which requires preparation, there are ways around it. I'm the only one that likes cauliflower in this house so I make cauliflower and potato cheese and the others get mostly potato and I get mostly cauli.

I do try to eat reasonably well as in no fast food, no processed food, but that might be porridge for breakfast (0), sandwich for lunch (0), poss home made spag bol for dinner (max 1 or 2 - tomatoes, onions, sometimes sneak in some grated carrot)).

I think if you try not to snack it's hard then to force yourself to snack on apples, bananas etc. If you're not having a biscuit in the first place, you won't necessarily want a box of raisins to replace the biscut you wouldn't have had (IYKWIM). Also, can't bear fruit juice so that doesn't work for me. Plus I don't think it's that good for you - all that sugar.

A better day would be yogurt with nuts and a small amount of dried fruit (2), tomato and mozzarella salad (1), spag bol (max 1 or 2).

As you can see, I don't have an explicitly unhealthy diet but even on a good day I struggle to reach 5. I don't see how you get to ten unless you have a weird portion of cabbage alongside your spag bol and force down a grapefruit alongside your yogurt.

Very interested in what you conclude Whippet.

We eat loads of fruit & veg - think my kids do this as it's a normal part of a meal. Never count 5 a day or force this on them.

margoandjerry - you could have fruit for dessert though? We often have 2/3 portions after our main dinner course - last night we ate 1 kilo of cherries and 500 g of apricots between three of us.

We eat lost of fruit and veg but I am not obsessed about counting 5 a day. Some days I probably eat more than 5, others less so i'm not that worried about it.

we eat loads but I don't really count it.

I don't find lots of fruit adversely affects my IBS, quite the opposite, it's the days where I have rushed and eaten more bread and less veg than it feels worse. I guess it's different for everyone.

I eat lots of different fruit and veg but struggle to eat the amounts to make 1 portion IYSWIM. So I'll eat a couple of cherry tomatoes and cucumber with a sandwich at lunch, but probably only manage 1/2 portion in total. I know it all adds up, but I can't be bothered trying to keep a running tally through the day.

I do think it depends on appetite too. I don't eat masses of anything, so to be faced with a mound of cauliflower overfaces me tbh.

See I think that's part of the problem Anna. I don't do puddings. Or snacks. So it doesn't naturally fit into my day.

If you have spent a lifetime (trying not to) eat more than you want to, it seems odd to start tacking puddings on the end of meals when I've never had pudding in my life (except in restaurants/special occasions).

But you ought to be eating fruit, margoandjerry - it's really good for you, and it's delicious .

I cant fit 5 a day into my meals!

On a good day....

cereal or toast for breakfast

Perhaps one veg and one fruit at lunch time

A couple of veg with dinner

and maybe one fruit as a snack.

On a bad day a lot less!

We add veg to meals, like pasta, add a couple of veg in the sauce.

Ir salad with spag bol.

Whippet.....

I usually do. It helps that I'm virtually vegetarian (that is unless someone else is cooking/buying) so I eat a lot of veg just to fill up. I certainly think it IS expensive to eat a lot of it.

On a good day I will have:
Cereal with a banana
Apple for snack
Tuna salad for lunch (2/3 portions)
Satsuma/kiwi as a snack
Vegetarian Chilli (3 portions)

So that's 8/9!

However, on a bad day (like today):

Cereal, no banana
No lunch (had morning exam then had to rush to town to buy shoes for interview then had to take a long train journey)
Mars bar about six o clock cos I was bloody starving
Hummus, ciabatta, roast veg (3-4 portions).

I should qualify this, however, by saying I am an absolute dairy fiend and probably have about five portions of that a day.

Yes I do eat fruit. In my meals (typically breakfast). But not snacks or pudding. I'm just trying to answer Whippet's query about why it can be difficult for some people. My point was that for those of us who are trained to have no puddings, no snacks and no sweet drinks it's a bit strange then to actively add these back in to a day.

Just to show how it can vary my tally for today is:

bircher muesli (apples and sultanas so 2)
humous and chicken with tomatoes (1)
green bean, pea, broadbean and asparagus salad with smoked trout (3 in terms of portion size I'd guess).

So six today. But tomorrow there could be none.

Bree - is it my name you're grinning at??

ee ay, lass, I'm from The North, me...

(or did I miss something else?)

Interesting to hear the views on here. I hadn't ever really considered fruit & veg to be much more expensive, but when you make an analogy with cheap biscuits on a 'snack-by-snack' basis I can see what you mean.

[A man tried to charge me 60p for a single banana on Victoris station the other day

I don't think there is anything wrong with puddings, either - as long as they usually are fruit/yoghurt based. We always have pudding after supper, but it's usually fresh fruit or yoghurt, occasionally sorbet or ice cream and very rarely a (small) cake.

Anna8888, that is a good point. I tried to up my intake of fruit and veg and got such a horrible bloated stomach and very bad wind . I just felt constantly awful.

I find it really difficult to fit that much fruit/veg in to my meals.

Firstly I don't like fruit juice so that is one out.

Yesterday I ate

BREAKFAST Sausage, beans & oatcakes

LUNCH Fish, potates, peas & sweetcorn

Snack Chocolate cake

TEA Corned beef sandwcich with lettuce

I drank water and tea throughout the day.

So I make that 2 and a bit portions (the lettuce was no where near enough a portion)

Most days I have toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and then some type of meat/fish, potatoes and 1 or 2 veg for tea. I can't fit any more in.