Fruit And Vegetables: What Is Wrong With 5-a-Day Serving

In order to keep our blood counts healthy, we must eat in a certain way. Healthy eating means well-balanced and varied diet with a lot of fruit and vegetables, since they play the most important role in preserving good health. Five-a-day rule has been around for quite some time. Eating 80g is considered to be enough for adults, so if you eat 7 strawberries, 11 Brussels sprouts, add a tomato, half of the red bell pepper and onion with lunch — you're done for the day. Unless of course you want even more nutrients, then you can consume as much as you like, the more the better. This five a day thing is here only to move and motivate.

Wherever you turn your head at supermarkets, there are labels saying how many of the recommended amount each product meets. It looks and sounds so easy, but it's different in reality. Ninety-one percent of children and adolescents from ages 6 to 18 consume so much harmful fats and sugars that it directly effects their physical health. Fifty-one percent of children eat less than one serving of fruits and vegetables per day. Shockingly, one in six children thinks that a blueberry muffin counts as a portion of fruit. Even seventy percent of UK adults don't meet the required minimum.

The serving minimum has been around since 2003 in Britain, and for almost 30 years in the USA. Governments tried to make healthy eating as easy as counting fingers, but people found even this too hard to attain, so they started counting cartons of juice and processed vegetables like tomato sauce among the daily five. These can be high in sugar/fat, and shouldn't be counted. Retailers mark these products as one of a five-a-day because they're higher on a profit margin. Healthy options like fresh apples are cheaper too, and hence rarely labeled. Unfortunately, labeling became business and common people are once again suffering due to someone's greed.

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What Doesn't Count As A Serving

You'll probably immediately guess which vegetable can't be part of our 5-a day? Yes — all time favorite — potatoes. Even though it's a veggie and amazing source of energy, potato can't be counted because its main ingredient is starch, which puts spuds in the same group with bread and rice. Fruity doughnuts and pies don't count either — having that apple pie or blueberry muffin won't contribute to your health for the better.

How To Increase Your Daily Fruit And Vegetable Consumption

In order to get all the benefits, fruit and vegetables don't need to be fresh, or even eaten on their own. They can be part of a dish, or placed in juices and smoothies, but they have to be prepared without adding too much fats or sugars. Together with fresh goodies, you can also count those in soups or stews. Some things like beans count as only one portion regardless of how much of it you eat because they don't offer all the nutrients you need. While the amount of fibre you get from beans is amazingly high, you'll need other vitamins and minerals. Frozen, canned and dried fruits and veggies also count. Regarding the canned fruit and vegetables, the best option would be to choose those tinned in water or in their natural juice. Dried fruits and vegetables are also good for you. Thirty grams or a handful of dried fruit counts as one daily portion.

How To Reach The Minimum

Making a smoothie is a great way to feed yourself all the wonderfulness if you find 5-a-day rule hard to obtain. There are thousands of different smoothies you can make in the comfort of your own home, and the only thing you'll need is a blender or a food processor. Even though green smoothies can be great for you, you have to be careful and consume no more than two per day, since crushing fruits and veggies into a smoothie means lot more sugars, hence more danger for teeth. Be creative — choose among carrots, apples, spinach, strawberries, bananas, kale... anything really. Mix and match and learn which ones you like the most.

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Another good way to add up numbers is to snack on vegetables. Whenever you feel like snacking something, grab a carrot. The crunchy veggie is full of vitamin E and beta-carotene. Bake kale in the oven and you'll have crunchy kale chips to munch with your movie. You can do this with sweet potatoes too, just slice them, drizzle with dash of olive oil and salt and bake for 15 minutes.

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Cheats: Surprising Ways To Eat All Five (And More)

Besides smoothies and fruit juice, there are several unusual things that counts in five-a-day daily serving and some that don't.

• Good way to add up a portion is by eating popcorn. Even though corn is not a fruit or veggie, but a grain, it is amazing for our bodies, just don't overdo it with toppings. Studies have found that a single serving of popcorn contains 300 mg of antioxidants.

• Slices of lemon in your drink or lemon sprinkled over salads count too.

• Hummus spread on whole-grained toast is a way to add a serving, since it's made of chickpeas, olive oil and garlic.

• Guacamole dip is made of avocados and hence the easy and tasty way to add up a portion. Grab some whole-wheat crackers and dig in.

• Just one tablespoon of tomato purée counts as a daily portion of vegetables. Make sure to read the ingredients and find the healthiest option.

• Raisins can replace regular grapes, but not too often because of the added sugars.

• Tinned sauces are claimed to have certain health benefits, but make sure you don't consume them too much since they often contain added salt and sugar. Some manufacturers claim that their products count as daily portions, but it would be for the best if your portions came from whole foods.