Now, I am very worried that I'm not getting my five portions of fruit and veg that's necessary to keep me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed - if I want to resemble a fox, that is. I'm not sure I do. Though when I was a child, I used to draw people with a variety of tails tacked on, in an attempt to decide what sort of tail I would have. I rejected a horse's; too much brushing, though it might have come in handy for swishing off the flies. A cat's? Not very useful, really. A squirrel's? Too much grooming again. I finally decided a monkey's tail could come in very handy and allow me to swing from chandeliers, though what good that might do, I couldn't possibly imagine at the age of nine.
Back to the five a day goal. Today so far I have had:
Breakfast: 12 grapes, 7 cherries, half a pear, a huge dollop of coconut probiotic yogurt.
How many cherries and grapes count as a portion? As the yogurt was coconut, does that count as another? Do you have to eat a whole pear to have had a portion? Does this make three of my five? Or only one?
Lunch: a bowl of Mr G's home-made leek, pea and potato soup.
Again, does this count as three, because it had three vegetables in it, or only one because it was just one bowlful?
Help, somebody. I'm mystified. And foundering. And my tail isn't bushy. And my eyes are red from staring too long at the computer.
Hello Again!
4 months ago
2 comments:
5-a-day fruit portions:
Fresh fruit:
Small-sized fruit: 2 or more, for
example 2 plums, 2 satsumas, 3 apricots, 2 kiwi fruit, 7 strawberries, 14 cherries, 6 lychees.
Medium-sized fruit: 1 medium fruit, such as 1 apple, banana, pear, orange, nectarine, or 1 sharon fruit.
Large fruits: half a grapefruit, 1 slice of papaya, 1 slice of melon (2-inch slice), 1 large slice of pineapple, 2 slices of mango (2-inch slices).
Dried fruit:
1 tablespoon of raisins, currants,
sultanas, 1 tablespoon of mixed fruit, 2 figs, 3 prunes, 1 handful of banana chips.
Tinned fruit:
Roughly the same quantity of fruit that you would eat as a fresh portion: 2 pear or peach halves, 6 apricot halves, 8 segments of tinned grapefruit.
Juices:
A glass (150ml) of 100% juice (fruit or vegetable juice or smoothie) counts as 1 portion, but you can only count juice as 1 portion per day, however much you
drink. This is because it contains very little fibre. Also, the
juicing process 'squashes' all the
natural sugars out of the cells that normally contain them, which can be harmful for teeth - especially if you drink a lot of it in between meals.
Vegetable portions:
Green vegetables:
2 broccoli spears, 8 cauliflower
florets, 4 heaped tablespoons of kale, spring greens or green beans
Cooked vegetables:
3 heaped tablespoons of cooked
vegetables such as carrots, peas or
sweetcorn.
Salad vegetables:
3 sticks of celery, 2 inch piece of
cucumber, 1 medium tomato, 7 cherry
tomatoes.
Tinned and frozen vegetables:
Roughly the same quantity as you would eat as a fresh portion. For example, 3 heaped tablespoons of tinned or frozen carrots, peas or sweetcorn.
Pulses and beans:
3 heaped tablespoons of baked beans, haricot beans, kidney beans, cannelloni beans, butter beans or chick peas.
Beans and pulses do count, but only as 1 of the 5 portions, no matter how much you eat.
Potatoes and other root vegetables:
Because they are considered a 'starchy' food, potatoes don't count towards your 5-a-day.(Starchy foods are foods like potatoes, rice, pasta and bread and so come under the carbohydrate portion of
your meal.)
Dear Jacula. You've no idea how useful all this info is. It's just what I have been looking for. Many, many thanks!
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