Are you confused about exactly what counts as a portion of fruit and vegetables. Well here is a quick guide to print out that you can refer to.
What is a portion?
One portion is about 80 grams, which could be half a grapefruit, a slice of melon, a handful of grapes, an apple, two satsumas, three dried apricots or a tablespoon of raisins. One portion of veg could be three heaped tablespoons of peas, carrots or sweetcorn or a bowl of salad. A medium-sized glass of 100% fruit juice also counts.
- Fresh, frozen, tinned and dried fruit and vegetables.
- Pure fruit and vegetable juices.
- Veg in ready meals, takeaways, pasta sauces and soups.
- Fruit in puddings.
- But watch out for added salt/ fat/ sugar in takeaways and ready meals – check out the labels.
- Potatoes, because they are considered a ‘starchy’ food like bread and pasta, but these are all important parts of a healthy diet.
- More than one glass of juice – even if you drink lots of it during the day, juice has hardly any fibre and has loads of sugar which is bad for your teeth.
- More than one portion of beans or pulses a day, because they don’t give the same mixture of vitamins and minerals as fruit and veg.
- Jam. Vitamin pills and supplements, as they don’t contain fibre.
- Munching your favourite fruit or vegetable five times a day. You need to eat a variety to get the maximum benefits from all the different nutrients.
Are there any shortcuts?
- Slice banana into your cereal.
- Snack on an apple, banana, handful of grapes or raisins rather than a packet of crisps.
- Have a glass of orange juice.
- Dip veg sticks (e.g. carrots, celery) into salsa sauce.
- Stuff salad bits such as cucumber, lettuce and tomato into your sarnies.
- Add extra vegetables to pizza, pasta sauces and soups.
- Stir fries, stews and casseroles are any easy way of combining up to nine vegetables in one go. Replace stodgy puddings with a hunk of melon or a fruit salad. Make a smoothie – blend low fat natural yoghurt with two handfuls of blackberries, blueberries or raspberries.
- Make fruit kebabs by threading bite-sized chunks of apples, pears, strawberries and pineapple onto wooden skewers – you could even grill or barbeque them.