10 portions of fruit and veg a day

Tum22
Tum22 Posts: 102 Member
edited November 16 in Food and Nutrition
Will anyone be following the new advice of ten 80g portions of fruit and or veg a day? (UK) It used to be five and now it is recommended to eat ten portions a day to avoid deaths from cancers/strokes and heart attacks. And what do you think is the best way to do this?
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Replies

  • Ben_there_done_that
    Ben_there_done_that Posts: 732 Member
    I read that this morning, too. I will probably not. lol. I have a hard enough time doing the 5. Good luck if you're going for it.
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 994 Member
    We're all going to die of something. I don't think I could eat that much fruit and veg if I tried... and I really like both.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited February 2017
    To my knowledge it is still 6 in the U.S. and I usually get that in easily...most days I probably get in 8-10 depending. I have a garden salad most days that weighs around 8 ounces (227 grams)...usually around 170 grams of veg with dinner...I usually have 2x 5.5 ounce low sodium V8s with lunch (2 servings of veg) and one or two servings of fruit per day.

    ETA: if this also includes other plant based sources of food like beans, lentils, potatoes, oats, nuts, etc than I get even more.

    I eat a predominately whole foods diet.
  • sanjoparolas
    sanjoparolas Posts: 549 Member
    I will! https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/23/five-day-10-portions-fruit-veg-cut-early-death Soups, salads, roasted vegetables, stir fries, and out of hand . . .
  • Gianfranco_R
    Gianfranco_R Posts: 1,297 Member
    Tum22 wrote: »
    Will anyone be following the new advice of ten 80g portions of fruit and or veg a day? (UK) It used to be five and now it is recommended to eat ten portions a day to avoid deaths from cancers/strokes and heart attacks. And what do you think is the best way to do this?

    as someone already put it, eating (whole) food, not too much, mostly plants.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    I eat a lot of large salads, so to me 800g per day of vegetables is well within what I do already. One medium tomato is about 100g, a bell pepper can easily be 200g, a couple mini cucumbers for another 200g, throw in a few broccoli florets or something for 100g, one good sized carrot is 200g, etc etc etc.

    Between a big salad for one meal and a side of veg at my other main meal, I probably get well over that recommendation without much effort, honestly. I like vegetables and they're a great way to create nutrient-rich, tasty, filling meals with a lot of volume without overeating. I maintain when not running on around 1600 calories a day, so vegetables are the best way for me to get to eat lots and get good variety.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I usually get around 8-10, sometimes more, when I bother counting, mostly vegetables. Servings aren't that big, and I usually have multiple servings at a time. I don't usually count in servings though, but just have vegetables with all meals, usually at least a couple of different kinds and a significant amount. I just eat fruit as I feel like it, which tends to mean not so much in the winter (although it varies, I was in a clementine phase and then a pear phase and now am into blueberries and pineapple), and more in the winter when I eat all the local in-season fruits, so good. I think really worrying about something like servings isn't that important if you know you eat a lot, but might be something to do as a reality check especially if you are working on increasing or don't tend to think of vegetables as something to build a meal around.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    One thing to keep in mind is that a portion of veggies is often fairly small. Looking at a cup of veggies(128 g), it's not really that much. One can easily get 3 portions of veggies in a so-so garden salad, soup, or stir fry.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I usually get around 8-10, sometimes more, when I bother counting, mostly vegetables. Servings aren't that big, and I usually have multiple servings at a time. I don't usually count in servings though, but just have vegetables with all meals, usually at least a couple of different kinds and a significant amount. I just eat fruit as I feel like it, which tends to mean not so much in the winter (although it varies, I was in a clementine phase and then a pear phase and now am into blueberries and pineapple), and more in the winter when I eat all the local in-season fruits, so good. I think really worrying about something like servings isn't that important if you know you eat a lot, but might be something to do as a reality check especially if you are working on increasing or don't tend to think of vegetables as something to build a meal around.

    I think this is key. I had a bag of frozen broccoli, steamed, with lunch yesterday. :)
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    Maybe the new mindset in the medical community is that if we all eat more fruits and veggies we'll be too full for the junk? Oh wait, there's always room for the junk. :D

    I primarily eat a plant-based diet so I think I'm already in compliance (lots of big salads, curries and stir-fry). Just fill your plate with lots of veg and add a little protein and some grains. Then you can have a cookie for dessert.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited February 2017
    sanjoparolas wrote: »
    I will! https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/23/five-day-10-portions-fruit-veg-cut-early-death Soups, salads, roasted vegetables, stir fries, and out of hand . . .

    Thanks for the link!

    eta: I'm going to aim for the 800g a day, for a few days (will be mostly veggies since I'm not a fan of fruit), and see what that actually looks like for me. I eat several servings of veggies a day, but I don't know how I'd even fit in that much lol.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    MeganAM89 wrote: »
    To be honest I struggled with getting five, although it's been better since I started making protein smoothies using Vega Essentials (chocolate) and adding a banana to it.

    I would like to know more about their change in recommendation though. I assume there are other factors to consider like how much you exercise, whether or not you smoke, etc.

    First thing I thought of reading the article was that I need to dust off my blender and start making green smoothies again :) I used to be really good about doing these, but got out of the habit. May head to the store this weekend and pick up some things to make them again-that would probably be 2-4 servings right there between the spinach, banana and berries I usually mix together.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited February 2017
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I'm in the "I eat a lot (as in multiple "servings" at once) and won't bother counting" camp. I had a whole bag of frozen kale with lunch yesterday and a whole bag of frozen broccoli with dinner!

    My go-to weekday lunches includes a bag of California blend veggies, which is 3 servings worth, but I go through and pick out the stems/trim stems off because I don't like the texture of them. So I'm reducing the amount a bit. I'm very curious to see what 800 grams of veggies/fruit actually looks like (and how many calories it is), so I'm going to make it a goal to fit in 800g a day next week, and see how it goes :)
  • Tum22
    Tum22 Posts: 102 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    To my knowledge it is still 6 in the U.S. and I usually get that in easily...most days I probably get in 8-10 depending. I have a garden salad most days that weighs around 8 ounces (227 grams)...usually around 170 grams of veg with dinner...I usually have 2x 5.5 ounce low sodium V8s with lunch (2 servings of veg) and one or two servings of fruit per day.

    ETA: if this also includes other plant based sources of food like beans, lentils, potatoes, oats, nuts, etc than I get even more.

    I eat a predominately whole foods diet.

    It does count one portion only of legumes, one juice or smoothie and possibly nuts?
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    That seems like way too much to me. I can't even reach the 7 - 8 that the Canadian guidelines suggest.
  • Tum22
    Tum22 Posts: 102 Member
    crzycatlady1 wrote: »
    GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »
    I'm in the "I eat a lot (as in multiple "servings" at once) and won't bother counting" camp. I had a whole bag of frozen kale with lunch yesterday and a whole bag of frozen broccoli with dinner!

    My go-to weekday lunches includes a bag of California blend veggies, which is 3 servings worth, but I go through and pick out the stems/trim stems off because I don't like the texture of them. So I'm reducing the amount a bit. I'm very curious to see what 800 grams of veggies/fruit actually looks like (and how many calories it is), so I'm going to make it a goal to fit in 800g a day next week, and see how it goes :)

    I saw an article on the news and it looks as though it would cover the bottom of a small shopping basket if it was all fresh items. It would definitely reduce the space (stomach) for other foods if I ate that much!
  • ActivatedAlm0nds
    ActivatedAlm0nds Posts: 169 Member
    I checked and hit pretty close to 800 grams today, surpassed if include potatoes. I eat pretty similarly to this on my 6 maintenance days.

    I do about half with vegetables on my fast day and eat out once or twice a week.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    kenyonhaff wrote: »
    One thing to keep in mind is that a portion of veggies is often fairly small. Looking at a cup of veggies(128 g), it's not really that much. One can easily get 3 portions of veggies in a so-so garden salad, soup, or stir fry.

    I think this is an important point. I used to think "8 servings" meant eating veggies 8 times a day lol! Once I started weighing my food, I realized my "one veggie" with dinner was actually two servings, and that big apple was actually 1.5 fruits and all of a sudden 8 servings didn't seem all that tough. Although I still prob only get 5 servings on most days <shrug>. All you can do is all you can do :)
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    edited February 2017
    Tum22 wrote: »
    Will anyone be following the new advice of ten 80g portions of fruit and or veg a day? (UK) It used to be five and now it is recommended to eat ten portions a day to avoid deaths from cancers/strokes and heart attacks. And what do you think is the best way to do this?

    I dunno but I sure won't be attempting it. I put all those foods in my calculator and I get 630 calories....just for fruits and veggies. Yeah not happening.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I'm tempted to give it a try too. I average around 5 a day and thought I did well.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    I eat a pretty good variety of fruit and veg, but not in large enough quantities for it to count as a portion, so no, probably not!
  • domeofstars
    domeofstars Posts: 480 Member
    edited February 2017
    Right now I'm probably already eating about 800g anyway. I eat 400g of mixed frozen vegetables each day, usually at lunch time alongside my sandwich I've made. I love carrots, peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower etc. It is ALOT to eat but I'm use to it. I actually find myself craving vegetables now and its made my skin look great. I have two pieces of fruit as well over the course of the day usually a large orange which is around 300g and then another piece...grapes, peach, pear or dried fruit. I watched a documentary on Netflix called 'Hungry For Change' and a lot of the healthy food advocates on there had INCREDIBLE skin and looked so young and its because they're eating so much veg. People pay thousands of dollars over a lifetime to improve their skin...why not just eat more fruit and veg? Cheaper and healthier.

    I would try and focus on the vegetables you really like and include more of those. You can include more veg in certain dishes and recipes, add more to sandwiches, casseroles, stirfrys. Have a look at recipes online that include your fave vegies and cook those. Eliminate processed snacks and eat fruit instead...fruit you like of course.
  • aamb
    aamb Posts: 377 Member
    I always believed that multiple servings of the same veggie and potatoes didn't count... i'm hopeless at getting 5 in, so won't even attempt going for 10!
  • Chunkahlunkah
    Chunkahlunkah Posts: 373 Member
    For most of my life, I ate about 10 servings a day. I grew up eating large portions of veg and continued that as an adult.

    A few years ago, I had to cut the amount of produce I eat due to IBS. Maybe someday my body will get back to being able to eat that much, but for now it's just not doable for me. I long to eat that amount again. :'(
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    aamb wrote: »
    I always believed that multiple servings of the same veggie and potatoes didn't count... i'm hopeless at getting 5 in, so won't even attempt going for 10!

    Why wouldn't they count?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Blueberries on my oatmeal. A fruit for lunch. Lots of veggies elsewhere.
  • frawley23
    frawley23 Posts: 31 Member
    I generally have 3-4 serves of veggies every night for dinner either as a large salad with protein or a smaller salad as a side to a main like enchiladas or pasta (which have veg in them too). I have 2-4 serves of fruit for snacks. Usually I'll have another 1-2 serves of veggies for breakfast and/or lunch between mushrooms or tomato on toast, salad sandwiches, dinner leftovers.and the raw carrots I like to munch on while I'm prepping my food.

    In Australia our guidelines are 2 fruit and 5 veg a day for general health which is what I aim for. I think I'm going to aim for the 10 a day but I'm not sure if it'll happen.
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