Bell pepper?!

Jayj180894
Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
edited January 26 in Food and Nutrition
Do different coloured peppers count as multiple portions of your 5 a day? For example if you put a red pepper and a yellow pepper in your meal does that count as 2 portions of your 5 a day or is it just 1 portion of your 5 a day?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,581 Member
    Yeah, I just weigh all my vegetables and fruit and shoot for 800g a day. I don't always get there, but it's a good goal that serves me well.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10521320/10-a-day-800g-veggie-fruit-challenge-participants-check-in/p1
  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
    The NHS promotes eating 5 fruit and veg a day and encourages different types as it is better nutritionally as you're getting different nutrients. So just wondered if a pepper is a pepper or the they have different nutrients in the different colours.
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,373 Member
    Well who knew that the different colours were more about maturity than anything else...https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2018/04/05/red-green-capsicums-healthier/

    Seems they do have different nutritonal profiles...but don't over think it.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,941 Member
    I think if you remember that a ‘serving’ is considered to be 80g when figuring out your 5-a-day, then it doesn’t matter what colour the peppers are! If you have 40g of yellow and 40g of red, that’s one serving. 80g of each would count as 2 serving.

    I think @cmriverside has it right. Newest recommendations are actually 10-a-day, so that’s an accumulative 800g of fruit and veg per day. Chances are if you’re aiming for that, you’re going to be having enough variety too!
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    "Five a day" is not based on any abstract goal that one must hit that is based in reality, it's a public health slogan to try to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables. So you can use it in whichever way is most helpful in getting you to the end goal of eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
  • gigius72
    gigius72 Posts: 183 Member
    edited January 2021
    They feed different bacteria in your microbiome, they have different nutrition so they are different.
    Said that I wouldn't worry about math problems. Buy different vegetable and eat each day several of them. Mix them in a salad or cook them together. Don't focus on numbers, focus on diversity.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    just eat your fruits and veg and don't overthink it...
  • gigius72
    gigius72 Posts: 183 Member
    bold_rabbit wrote: »
    For simplicity in both shopping and cooking, I focus on variety over time, not on any individual day.

    I agree. Sometimes we focus so much in numbers that we lose sight of the bigger picture.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    bold_rabbit wrote: »
    For simplicity in both shopping and cooking, I focus on variety over time, not on any individual day.

    Me too, although I usually do have a good variety in a day just because when possible that's how I enjoy eating most (and I'm another who prefers to have 10+ servings). Focusing on diversity over time would make it easier not to waste anything too, especially if one is still at a point where 5 a day seems like a lot.
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